


Sweet Child of Mine

by Crematosis



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Community: avengerkink, Fluff and Angst, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Male Lactation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Parent Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Protective Steve, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 22:44:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 99,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3186002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crematosis/pseuds/Crematosis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a baby is found in the rubble after a mission, Tony, as the only omega on the team, volunteers to take care of the baby until the parents are found. Everyone expects the worst.</p><p>But no one, not even Tony, is prepared for just how naturally Tony takes to child care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kigichi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kigichi/gifts).



> Another Avengerkink fill for my dear friend Kigichi.
> 
> As of this posting, I've gotten 10 chapters done and there will probably be almost as many chapters left to go. So, it's definitely going to be a long one. You've been warned.

“As you all know,” Nick Fury began, “Agent Barton discovered a small child in the rubble during your last rescue mission. The child's-”

“Parents been found yet?” Tony asked, fiddling absently with his phone. “I've been looking for the obligatory SHIELD photo-op with the happy family as agents unite them with their beloved baby. Nothing yet.”

Fury's eye narrowed. “No, the parents have not been found. And put that damn thing away.” 

Steve kicked Tony under the table and shot him a look. With a heavy sigh, Tony shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“As I was saying,” Fury continued, giving Tony a dark look, “the child's parents have not been located yet, but we are working on it as we speak. In the meantime, SHIELD's medical staff has recommended that the baby leave the facility and stay with a volunteer caregiver.”

“Ooh, me, me, me!” Tony waved a hand wildly. “Pick me.”

Steve rolled his eyes, tempted to kick him again.

Fury's face remained impassive. “Anybody else?”

“Oh, come on. I'm the only omega on the team. It totally makes sense for me to take care of this kid.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You have no experience raising a child. You don't even know how to take care of a pet.”

“Not true,” Tony objected. “Dummy, Butterfingers, and You are my babies. They were just tiny heaps of metal when they were first born and look at them now.”

“And yet, you still named them Dummy, Butterfingers, and You,” Natasha muttered under her breath.

Tony scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don't want me to give the kid a nickname? Fine, be that way.”

“Tony, robots don't require the same level of care as a human child,” Bruce said gently. “Your bots manage just fine on their own most of the day, but a baby needs constant attention.”

“I know what babies need. Food, toys, clothes, diapers. I can have Jarvis put in an order for everything the baby needs and it'll be at the Tower by the time this boring meeting is over. And, really, I am the best person to handle this baby. I can afford anything and everything it'll ever need.”

Fury sighed and massaged his temple. “There's no reasoning with you, is there? Fine. But when you decide this baby isn't the fun little project you thought it was, it's coming right back to SHIELD.” He leveled the other Avengers with a stern look. “Make sure he doesn't fuck this up. The last thing we need is a dead baby on our hands.”

“Yes, sir,” Steve said. 

He didn't know why Tony was so bound and determined to take on the responsibility, but even Fury had learned by now it was easier to just let Tony do what he wanted to do and take care of the fallout afterward.

Tony would probably get bored with the baby in a few days, but there were usually six other people in the Tower. If Tony started to forget to feed it, one of the others could step up and help out. Steve had a suspicion that that person was going to be him.

Oh well. It might be fun to play parent for a little bit. It was probably the closest Steve would ever come to having a child of his own.

Tony grinned and gave Fury a thumbs up.“You've made the right choice, my friend. You won't regret it.”

“I'm already regretting it,” Fury growled. “That baby is probably more mature than you'll ever be. Now, we have more pressing matters to discuss. We still have an entire street closed off because of all the rubble from that damn goat man.”

“He called himself Battering Ram,” Clint added helpfully.

“I don't give a damn what he calls himself. We just have to clean up the motherfucking mess he left behind.”

“Yep,” Tony said disinterestedly. “Sounds like fun.”

Steve frowned at him. He was already back to fiddling with his phone again. Steve nudged him warningly with his foot, but Tony continued to tap buttons.

“Tony,” Steve hissed. “Fury's going to-”

“Off the phone, Stark,” Fury snapped. “Don't make me tell you again.”

Natasha leaned over to whisper to Steve, “Look at that. Already moved on to something else.”

“I'm ordering things for the baby,” Tony said indignantly. “Boy or girl?”

Fury glowered at him.“Girl.”

“Excellent. And would you say closer to four months or six months? Because there is this really awesome shirt that says 'Troublemaker' and one that says 'Little Rebel' and I want-”

“Off the phone now,” Fury said in a tone that warned dire consequences for any disobedience.

Tony huffed and slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Fine. The kid'll just have to go topless for a couple hours.”

Fury shook his head. “This is just another distraction for you, isn't it? Just another thing you can be doing instead of focusing on the meeting.”

“Right,” Tony said with a dramatic eye roll. “Because everything I do is to avoid listening to your debriefings. And people think I'm the narcissist.”

“Tony,” Steve said gently. “You already have a lot of commitments. You have your work for Stark Industries, Avengers calls, and your consulting work for SHIELD. If this baby is going to eat into all your time and cause you to neglect the rest of your duties-”

Tony straightened in his seat. “No, no,” he said. “I've got this. I'm completely focused on this meeting. We're talking about the rubble right? Easy stuff. Hire a few bulldozers and it'll all be taken care of. Problem solved, meeting adjourned. Let's all go home now.”

Fury looked decidedly unhappy about the whole thing, but he waved a hand dismissively. “Fine. Go pick up the damn baby. But I expect you to pitch in to clear the rubble tomorrow with everybody else. And no, you do not get to hire contractors to do your share of the work.”

“Aye, aye, boss,” Tony said with a snappy salute. “We'll be there.”

Steve expected Tony to want to race down to the infirmary to see the baby, but he hung back in the stairwell for a moment. “You guys go ahead,” he said. “I have to make arrangements with Pepper.”

“If he has Pepper come over and take care of the baby for him, I'm kicking his ass,” Natasha said darkly.

“We don't know what he's talking to Pepper about,” Steve reminded her.

But the fact that Tony was back on the phone again wasn't a good sign.

The SHIELD medic met them at the door, a wary look on her face. “Director Fury warned me you were coming. I still think letting Mr. Stark handle a baby is a terrible idea, but I can't contradict the director's orders.”

“I'm sure it'll be fine,” Steve said. “If anything goes wrong, the rest of us are there to help out.”

The medic gave him a long, searching look, but finally led them over to the makeshift crib in the corner of the room. The baby was still wearing the same yellow dress she had sported when Clint picked her out of the rubble. It was a little dirty, but she didn't seem to mind. She just gurgled happily to herself and kicked her feet.

“Steve,” Natasha breathed. “She looks just like you.”

Steve snorted. So, the baby had blue eyes and blonde hair just like her did. It was just a slight resemblance. 

Tony wandered in to the infirmary. “Good news. Pepper's going to hook us up with babysitting if we get called on a mission.” He padded over to the crib and peered inside.“Hey there, princess.” He wiggled a finger in front of her face and she reached out to curl her hand around it.

The medic cleared her throat. “Mr. Stark. Before I allow you to take little Emily home, there are a few rules I need to go over.”

Tony lifted the baby out of the crib and settled her in his arms. “Emily? Really? Why didn't you name her Stephanie? She looks just like Cap.”

“She does not,” Steve objected.

The medic scowled. “It doesn't matter what we call her. It's probably not her real name anyway.”

“We should have a bet on what the real name is,” Clint said eagerly.

“I'm still voting for Stephanie,” Tony said.

“We'll bet on the first letter of the name,” Clint decided. “That'll be easier. I'll rope in a few of the SHIELD agents so we have all the letters covered.”

“S,” Tony said. “I'm calling it first.”

Clint pulled out his own phone and began setting up the betting pool. “You want in on this, Cap?”

Steve sighed. “Fine. T.”

Tony bounced the baby in his arms. “You hear that, Stephy? Cap's betting against me. You better not let me down.”

The baby giggled and jammed her fist in her mouth.

The medic sighed. “So, I want to go over the list of supplies you'll need.” She grabbed a checklist off the counter.

Tony glanced at the paper. “Already taken care of.”

“Mr. Stark, you haven't even read-”

“I put in an order for all the stuff we'll need,” Tony said cheerfully. “It's probably at the Tower already.”

The medic put her hands on her hips. “And I suppose you thought to order a-”

“Diaper bag? Changing table? Pacifier? Diaper rash ointment? Trust me. I've got it covered.”

The medic ground her teeth together. “I guess I'll have to take your word for it,” she said. She thrust the checklist at Steve. “Look this over once you get her home. Make sure he's got all the necessities.”

“Uh, okay,” Steve said.

He wasn't sure why she was making it his job to check up on Tony. Probably just because he was team leader. But it was weird how it always seemed to be his responsibility to fix things when Tony was being Tony.

“Let's take you home,” Tony said to the baby. “We'll get you out of these icky, dirty clothes that nobody even bothered to wash. Shame on them.”

The medic gave him one last withering glare and shooed them out the door.

Just as Tony had promised, by the time they arrived back at the Tower, there were a couple large boxes on the doorstep from a baby boutique in Brooklyn.

With help from Thor and Steve, everything was dragged to an empty room on Tony's floor, two doors down from his bedroom. And then Tony began excitedly tearing into the boxes, pulling out packages of diapers, bibs, clothes, changing pads, toys, and bottles. He held each item up for the baby's inspection.

Steve surreptitiously shredded the list. With all the things piling up in the baby's new bedroom, he very much doubted Tony had missed a single necessity. He probably had enough supplies to take care of five babies.

Tony glanced around at the mess he had created. “Wow. I might have bought a little more than I needed.”

“What can we do to help?” Natasha asked.

“Uhh, I'll probably give her a bath first and change her into something clean. So, if you guys can dig out a wash cloth, towel, baby shampoo, wash basin, and one of the diaper boxes, that'll be great.”

Clint spotted most of the things Tony needed pretty quickly and the others pawed through the piles for the rest of the stuff and it was all collected into the wash basin.

Tony shifted the baby to his hip and tucked the basin under his other arm. “Thanks, guys. I'll be back in a few.”

“I'll help,” Natasha said. “You'll probably need an extra set of hands.”

“Nope. I got this,” Tony said cheerfully. “But feel to continue unpacking while I'm gone.” He vanished into the adjacent bathroom.

Natasha frowned. “Why does he always act like he's too good to accept our help? He's not going to be able to take care of the baby all by himself. You know he's not.”

“So, we help him in all the ways we can,” Steve said. “Starting with unpacking the rest of this stuff.”

Natasha sighed as she bent down to slice open another box with one of her knives. “Realistically, how long do you think Stark is going to last before he decides child care is too difficult?”

“We shouldn't be too worried about that,” Bruce said. “He's probably not going to look after the baby for more than a week. Any good parent would be desperately searching for their child so SHIELD should be able to track them down pretty quickly.”

“Unless they're dead,” Natasha said.

“Unless they're dead,” Steve echoed glumly. The Battering Ram had taken out a small cafe, a hair salon, and a brownstone in his rampage. Three people had been critically injured and there were five casualties. The baby's parents could have been among them.

“So what do we do then?

Steve chewed his bottom lip, wishing he had an answer for her. “We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said finally. “In the meantime, let's all just focus on keeping this baby healthy and happy.”

“Hey,” Clint said. “Did we start a bet on when the parents would turn up yet?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Do we really need another bet right now?”

There was supposedly another bet going around on how long Tony would take care of the baby before he realized he didn't know what the hell he was doing. And Agent Hill was only giving Tony until the first diaper change.

Steve found that a little insulting, but maybe it was for the best. Tony's greatest triumphs usually came at a time when everyone was betting against him.

Tony returned with the baby swaddled in a pale purple blanket just as they were unpacking the last of the boxes. “Looking good,” he said approvingly. “Did we manage to find the crib yet?”

Natasha stared in disbelief. “Back already? Did you actually wash her or just put a towel over her?”

“Of course I bathed her. How else would my shirt get this wet? No, wait, don't answer that.”

Steve steadfastly refused to think of any other explanation.

Tony spread the blanket out on the floor and settled the baby in the middle of it. “There you are,” he said. “You just sit tight while we get your crib ready.”

The baby tugged at the hem of her pink top and then raised her hands above her head with a whimper.

“Are you sure you put that on her right?” Natasha asked. “She doesn't seem to like wearing it.”

Tony scooped the baby back into his arms. “She's just tired,” he said. “The bath made her kind of sleepy.”

The baby whined and rubbed at her eyes.

“I know, I know,” Tony said soothingly. “You've had a long day and now you're ready for bed.” He glanced up. “I need an ETA on the crib, guys.”

“Do I look like a furniture building expert?” Clint grumbled. “I think all the instructions are in some made-up language.”

Tony sighed heavily. “I have to do everything myself, don't I?” He turned to Steve. “Hold Stephy for a moment.”

“But, Tony, I don't-”

“Nonsense. You two are practically twins. I'm sure she'll love you.” Tony pressed the baby into his arms, pausing for only a moment to adjust Steve's hands into a different position before he scurried off to take over the crib setup.

Steve sighed and awkwardly bounced the baby in his arms as her cries got progressively louder.  
He was thankful when Tony finally returned to take her back.

Tony hummed as he rocked the baby in his arms. Eventually the baby's wails tapered off as she snuggled into his chest. “That's it,” he said softly. He eased her down carefully into the crib. She made a small sound of protest, but didn't actually appear to be waking up again.

“Awesome,” Tony said. “Jarvis, we got this?”

“Yes, sir,” Jarvis said. The lights dimmed slightly and a quiet lullaby started playing. “I will alert you when she wakes.”

“Okay, great.” Tony shooed them towards the door. “It's only eight, so I'm sure you all have places to be, things to do. No one wants to stare at a sleeping baby for hours.”

“So, what are you going to do then?” Steve asked.

Tony looked a little startled. “Oh, um, stuff. Just stuff. I'll see you tomorrow.” He hurriedly closed the door behind them.

“I think this baby thing is already stressing him out,” Natasha muttered. “He's acting weirder than usual.”

Steve shrugged. “It's a big responsibility.”

“And he doesn't have to do it alone. Look at all of us. We're all willing to pitch in and lend a hand.”

“Speak for yourself,” Clint said. “I ain't changing no dirty diaper.”

Natasha cuffed him upside the head. “I think I trust you with a baby even less than I trust Stark.”

They were still playfully bickering as they made their way back down to their own floors. 

Steve lingered outside the baby's room for a few more moments, hoping Tony to talk to him for a minute before he retreated down to the lab. But Tony wasn't coming out. With a sigh, Steve finally made his way to the elevator.

He really hoped Tony wasn't having a nervous breakdown. Knowing him, he wouldn't ask for help until it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

When Steve walked into the kitchen the next morning, he was a little surprised to see a high chair sitting next to the counter. He was even more surprised when he looked in the pantry and saw cans of formula and jars of baby food tucked in with the cereal.

He glanced back at Bruce, who was sitting at the kitchen counter right next to the high chair, drinking his usual cup of tea like nothing was out of the ordinary. "Is it just me," Steve asked, "or was it not like this when we went to bed?"

Bruce smiled. "He certainly doesn't waste any time, does he?"

Natasha's voice carried in from the hallway. "Why are there baby gates on all the stairs?" She wandered into the kitchen, looking a little shell-shocked. "When did he do all this?"

"Sometime last night," Steve guessed. "You know how little he sleeps when he gets excited about a new project."

Natasha nodded and took another look around the kitchen. "Where is he anyway?"

Bruce pointed to the fridge. A note taped was taped to the door, proclaiming, "See you at the clean-up site, slowpokes," in Tony's bold scrawl.

There was a little blue smudge at the bottom. Steve frowned. "Is that...?" He peered closer. In tiny print, Tony had added, "P.S. Stephy likes blueberries. Just like Cap :)"

Right. Tony just wasn't going to let that joke go.

Natasha leaned against the counter and took a sip of coffee. "So, he didn't any sleep last night, I'm assuming. Any bets on what state he'll be in for the clean-up?"

"I'm betting on manic," Clint said as he dropped down from the vents. "Did you know he put safety plates over all the electrical outlets and latches on all the cabinets?"

Steve rubbed his forehead wearily. If Tony had really gone to all that effort last night, he had to be exhausted by now, but to counteract the drowsiness, he had probably drunk enough coffee to turn him into a zany cartoon character. It was not going to be fun dealing with him all day.

"We'll have to make the most of it," Steve said. "Grab yourselves some lunch or snack and let's move out."

Clint grumbled to himself as he tossed an apple and a Tupperware full of leftovers into his bag. "Stark better pull his own weight. I'm going to be so pissed if he's too wound up to get anything done."

"Trust me," Steve said. "He'll do his share of the work." He threw a few things in his own pack and slung it over his shoulder.

The site was only a block away from the Tower, well within walking distance. Steve had always liked being able to walk to a mission, especially when it was nice and sunny outside. It was an excellent morale boost before a fight, or even a clean-up mission.

When they arrived on scene, Tony was standing in front of the biggest pile of rubble in only a ratty t-shirt and jeans. He waved to them. "Hi, guys. Glad you could make it." He turned slightly so they could see the baby strapped to his back. "Stephy says hi, too."

Steve was horrified. "Tony, you can't take the baby into a construction zone."

"Pepper's on her way," Tony said cheerfully. "I just thought I'd start canvassing the neighborhood in the meantime. See if anybody recognizes the little angel."

Oh. That actually made a lot of sense.

Tony chatted with a few of the local residents while Steve formulated a plan of attack with the rest of the team. There was rubble from three different buildings to sort through, but that wasn't as important as actually getting some of the bigger chunks of concrete out of the streets. The rebuilding effort was going to be done by professionals. Steve and the team were really just the muscle.

Pepper arrived with Tony's briefcase suit clutched in her hand fifteen minutes later. She almost dropped it when she saw the baby.

"Oh my god," Pepper said. "You really do have a baby. A human baby. I thought you were talking about one of your robots."

"Not this time." Tony eased the carrier off his back and let Pepper take the baby into her arms.

"Oh, she's a little doll," Pepper said. "Somebody's bound to be missing you, aren't they?"

The baby giggled and yanked on a hunk of Pepper's hair.

Tony winced. "Uh, maybe you should do that thing with your hair where you put it up."

"A bun?" Pepper asked, her mouth twisted with amusement.

"Yeah, that thing. Keep it out of temptation." He cleared his throat. "I brought a diaper bag with some supplies. A couple diapers, a bottle, an extra-"

"I've got it," Pepper said with a smile. "Go on and help your team. The sooner you get your work done, the sooner you get to play with the baby again."

"Right," Tony said. He stepped into the suit. "Come on, guys. Let's get 'er done."

It turned out that all their fears were unfounded. Tony threw himself into the work like he threw himself into battles. Which meant he tried to take on all the work on his own, his suit struggling a little as he lifted more weight than he really should. Steve was busy directing Thor and Hulk, but he tried to help Tony out as often as possible.

By noon, they were in better shape than Steve had hoped. Well over half of the street had already been cleared. The sidewalk was still a mess, but by the end of the day, it seemed likely that the street could be reopened for traffic.

Pepper was standing with the baby a little further down the block, safely out of harm's way, but she walked up as Thor bellowed loud enough for everyone to hear that they could cease their work and have lunch.

"Stephy," Tony cooed, scooping the baby into his arms. "Were you good for Auntie Pepper?"

"So good," Pepper said. "She's adorable."

"Any luck with the parents?"

Pepper shook her head. "If they live in the area, they really haven't spent any time socializing with their neighbors. Nobody recognized her."

"Probably from out of state or something," Tony said. "Just passing through when disaster struck. What a shame."

"I'll keep trying," Pepper said. "If the parents stopped for coffee along the way, one of the workers might recognize the baby. It'd be hard to forget a baby this cute."

"Good work, Pep," Tony said, relinquishing the baby back into her arms. "That's why I pay you the big bucks."

"That's why I pay myself the big bucks. I'm in charge, remember?" She nudged Tony with her hip. "Get back to work."

Tony saluted. "You're the boss, boss."

Wow. If Steve had told Tony to get back to work, they would have quickly descended into one of their legendary arguments. He envied the easy rapport she had with him.

But then again, they had a long history together. It would take a lot of time before he'd be able to tease Tony like that and have him not take offense.

However long it took, Steve was willing to make the effort.

"Hey, fearless leader. You're slacking."

Steve blinked. Right. He was never going to make friends by standing around and daydreaming. It was time for him to get back to work, too.

They really were making excellent progress on the work. Clint and Natasha had collected a large pile of framed pictures and other keepsakes from the damaged buildings that their owners would surely be happy to have back. And the street was almost completely clear of debris.

By three p.m., Steve decided that they had done enough work for one day and dismissed the team.

"Avengers, disassemble!" Thor shouted.

The bystanders along the street applauded and a few even came up to them to thank them for helping.

"Just doing our duty, ma'am," Steve told an especially effusive middle-aged woman who clung to him and cried about what a difference they were making for the neighborhood.

"You sound like just the woman I want to see," Tony said, sliding in between her and Steve.

Steve frowned. "Tony, that's not-"

"This is your neighborhood, right?" Tony asked intently. "You're a regular of the coffee shop, live down the block, that sort of thing, right?"

"Well, yes," the woman said reluctantly, her eyes flicking back to Steve. "I was just telling Captain Rogers that I appreciate the fine work you've all done here."

"Excellent. I knew I was right about you." Tony flashed her one of his press smiles. "So, in return for all the help we've done, maybe you can help me out with a little information."

The woman shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't really think I need to-"

"We're trying to locate the parents of a baby girl," Steve said. "Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh!" the woman said. "Oh, yes of course. Anything I can do to help."

"Great," Tony said. "Pepper, c'mere. Let the lady have a look at Stephy."

Steve rolled his eyes and went back to mingling with the rest of the public, listening to their relieved thanks and assuring them they would return to help again in the even of another attack, but that the Battering Ram was safely behind bars now and wouldn't bother them again.

When he returned, Tony was talking about stuffed animals while the woman cooed over the baby.

"Any luck?" Steve asked pointedly.

"Oh yes," the woman said quickly. "I recognize her. I see her almost everyday." She frowned. "I can't tell you who the parents are. It's always a different woman pushing her stroller." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "They must be some of those rich folk with more money than brains."

"Thanks for the help," Tony said with exaggerated enthusiasm. "I think the baby's due for another nap." He settled Stephy back into the baby carrier and darted away.

"Yes, thanks," Steve said. "You've been very helpful. If you'll excuse me, we need to get back to the Tower to debrief."

He felt a little bad about leaving the woman so abruptly, but something about how quickly Tony ran off was bothering him.

Tony was halfway down the block, muttering furiously to himself when Steve finally caught up with him.

"Hey, wait up," Steve called out."Tony, what's the matter?"

"Nannies," Tony said scornfully. "What kind of parents can't raise their own child?"

"Tony, you don't know-"

"Oh, I know," Tony said bitterly. "There was Jarvis the butler, who was admittedly awesome and spent more time with me than dear old dad ever did. Then there was Miss Stella every Monday and Wednesday, Miss Katie on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Mrs. Jones on the weekends. And when I got a little older, there were the private tutors to make sure I lived up to the Stark family name at boarding school."

Steve was taken aback. "Tony, I didn't-"

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and tell me my dad loved me and was just trying to give me every opportunity to succeed. But if he really loved me, he would have spent time with me."

"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve said. "Howard must have changed a lot since the days when I knew him."

Tony shrugged. "Neither one of them really wanted a kid. So, I'm sure it would have been a lot easier on everybody if I had never been born."

Steve grasped Tony's shoulders. "Don't think like that. We're all glad that you're here, Tony."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but then the baby started wailing. "Well, your little pep talk will have to wait. Later, Cap."

Steve sighed as Tony pushed past him and strode briskly towards the Tower.

Nothing he did seemed to make any difference. It was always one step forward, two steps back.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony had to have immediately locked himself back down in his lab when they got back because Steve couldn't find him and when asked, Jarvis said only that Tony didn't want to be disturbed at the moment. Steve hated to leave him alone in such a state. Everyone knew about Tony's terrible coping strategies when he was left to his own devices. But since Jarvis refused to let Steve see him, there was nothing more he could do.

He was awake for most of the night worrying about Tony. By sunrise, he gave up on sleep altogether and decided to go for a run to clear his head.

Central Park was his favorite place to run laps when he really needed to stop thinking, especially in the fall when the trees were so beautiful. All his frustrations usually faded to the back of his mind as he admired the scenery.

It wasn't working so well this morning. In addition to the usual early morning joggers, there were a few ladies pushing strollers. And every time he passed one of them, the feelings of helplessness came flooding right back.

He finally gave up after another six miles and gradually slowed to a walk. To his surprise, there was a familiar figure sitting on a bench by the park entrance.

"Tony? What are you doing here?"

Tony waved to him with coffee in hand. "Just out for a walk with the baby. I figure if she gets taken out for a walk everyday, I might as well keep up the same routine."

"You don't have to do that. Natasha and I are morning people. We'd be happy to take the baby out while you sleep in a little longer."

Tony snorted. "Right. Because I should be just like Stephy's parents and have everyone else do the parenting for me."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. We're just trying to help you out."

"I don't need your help."

Steve gritted his teeth. "Would you just listen to me for a second? You can't do everything on your own. And that doesn't make you a bad parent. It's no big deal if Pepper watches the baby every so often. And it'll be no big deal if Natasha takes the baby out some morning when you're really tired."

"Not gonna happen," Tony said. "Sleep is for the weak."

"Even you have to sleep sometime. And if you keep pushing yourself and not getting any rest, you're going to end up passing out. And how are you going to be there for the baby when that happens?"

Tony frowned. "I can do this. I'm a bona fide superhero, after all. And if I can't do a simple thing like take care of a baby for a few days, I need to get my title revoked."

Steve shrugged. "I wouldn't be able to do it all on my own. I'd take the baby in, of course, but I'd count on the rest of you to help me figure things out. There's no shame in asking for help when you need it. It's only a problem if you never try in the first place."

"Fine," Tony said. "We'll do it your way. I'll assign you all chores to help out and then you can all whine about how I'm lazy and just making you do the boring stuff so I don't have to."

"I'm not going to complain," Steve said. "The army wasn't all fun and games, you know. In between getting shot at, there was a lot of tedious tasks that needed to get done."

"Alright then, army boy. I'm putting you on kitchen duty. See how you like that."

If Tony thought he was punishing him, it really wasn't working. Steve once had to spend an entire afternoon peeling potatoes for all the men in boot camp. So doing a little cooking was no big deal.

Once they got home, Tony grabbed a bag of produce out of the fridge and shoved it into his hands. "Start getting this ready," he said brusquely.

Steve arranged the sweet potatoes and squash on the cutting board and began peeling them and cutting them into cubes. Tony moved in beside him and began slicing carrots.

"Aw, how cute," Clint said. "You two are so domestic."

"Back off, Barton," Tony growled.

"Jesus. Who spit in your cereal?"

"I wouldn't mess with him," Steve warned. "Tony's not in a great mood this morning."

Clint unfolded the newspaper. "This should cheer him up. You made the local news section, Tony. And so did the baby."

Steve smiled at the image. The other Avengers were in the background of the picture, leaning against street posts or sitting down on chunks of concrete to eat their lunch. But Tony was front and center, proudly posing with the baby strapped to his back.

"Excellent," Tony said. "That's one way to get the word out."

"Early yesterday morning, the Avengers team returned to Winchester Street, one of the areas previously destroyed by an attack from an individual known as the Battering Ram, to aid in the rebuilding," Clint read. "In addition to the Avengers, present CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts, was observed on scene with an infant, rumored to be Mr. Stark's own child. Is America's favorite couple finally reconnecting?" He trailed off with a grimace, and cast a sidelong look at Tony.

It had been almost a year since Pepper and Tony's breakup, but it was still a little bit of a sore subject.

"I thought this was supposed to be the local news, not a tabloid," Tony muttered. He sliced through the next carrot with a little more force. "And Pepper better be telling those idiots it's not our baby. How the heck do they expect a beta woman and an omega man to have a baby? Morons."

Steve winced as Tony came dangerously close to chopping off his own finger. "Mind if I take over for a bit?"

Tony threw the knife down on the counter. "Sure, go ahead. You're obviously way better at this than I am, Mr. Perfect. I'll be down in my lab where I actually know what I'm doing." And he stormed out of the kitchen.

"What the hell was that all about?" Clint asked.

Steve shook his head. "He gets a little unreasonable when he's had a couple sleepless nights."

Just as he feared, Tony was already running himself ragged.

Steve dumped all the vegetables into a pot and steamed them while he ate his breakfast. Tony would tell him what he wanted done next.

But even after several hours, Tony didn't return to the kitchen.

At noon, Steve put together a peace offering of a peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich and headed down to the lab.

He was pleased when the door slid open for him immediately. At least Tony hadn't locked himself in today. It was a step in the right direction.

"Tony, I brought you-" He came to a halt at the sight of the man in question slumped over his desk, his head resting on the computer keyboard.

Steve debated moving him."Is it going to mess up whatever Tony's working on if he touches the wrong key?"

"No, Captain. According to protocol, I shut off all power tools and pause any simulations when Sir is no longer functioning coherently."

"That's good to hear." He wandered over to the playpen and peered in. The baby was grabbing onto her feet and trying to stuff them in her mouth, so Steve supposed that would keep her occupied for a little while.

He frowned down at the plate in his hand, feeling a little foolish. He should have asked if Tony wanted any lunch before putting it together.

"You may put the sandwich in the lab fridge," Jarvis said. "Sir will likely be hungry when he wakes up and will appreciate having something prepared for him."

Steve opened the fridge and stared for a moment at all the containers of applesauce, baby yogurt, and homemade puree. "Or maybe not." It was hard to see a spot where he'd be able to stick a plate of leftovers.

"My apologies, Captain. I will remind Sir to organize a little more efficiently in the future."

"No, it's okay. I'll just set it down right here." A peanut butter and jelly sandwich ought to be fine sitting out for an hour or two. He placed the plate down gently beside the computer, but Tony still jerked his head upwards.

Steve winced. "Sorry. Didn't meant to wake you."

Tony groaned and scrubbed at his face with one hand. "Jarvis? How long was I out?"

"Two hours, sir."

"Oh." Tony yawned and blinked a few times. "That was a nice long nap."

Steve had the sudden urge to stroke Tony's hair. He couldn't help it. He had seen Tony stumbling bleary-eyed into the kitchen after a sleepless night plenty of times. But he had never seen him look this sleepy. It was frankly kind of adorable.

He convinced himself to settle his hands on Tony's shoulders and gently squeezed. "I wouldn't think a keyboard would make a very good pillow."

"Nope," Tony agreed, arching back into his touch. "Oh god, that feels good."

Steve smiled. "Besides really stiff, how are you feeling?"

"Much better." Tony smiled sheepishly. "For the record, you were kind of right about the sleep thing."

Steve rubbed Tony's back. "You're going to do great with the baby. But we'll be there to take care of all the little things so you don't get overwhelmed. Being a single parent is hard, you know. I still don't know how my mother managed."

"I forgot about your mom," Tony muttered. "That makes a little more sense now."

"What does?"

Tony waved a hand absently. "Nothing. Thanks for lunch, Cap." He grabbed hold of the sandwich and took a large bite.

"You're welcome," Steve said. "If you need anything else, let me know."

Tony stretched luxuriously. "Nah, I think we're all good here. The bots have been keeping Stephy entertained."

"Dummy seems to like her," Steve observed. The robot was bent over the playpen, beeping excitedly as the baby kicked her feet.

"No, Dummy," Tony said sternly. "Look, don't touch."

Dummy whirred sadly and rolled back a few inches.

"Yeah, I know. Life is so unfair."

Tony shook his head and gave Steve a sidelong look. "The idiot thinks he can hold the baby. Fat chance. I've seen him split tennis balls when he gets excited."

Dummy zoomed across the lab to Tony's side with a high-pitched beep and then darted around the desk, claw opening and closing reflexively.

"Shoot," Tony said. "Shouldn't have said the magic word." He made a shooing motion at the robot. "No, Dummy. If I give you a toy, then everyone else will want one, too."

There was a hopeful chirp from the corner of the room.

"No, You," Tony growled. "I wasn't talking to you...oh, forget it. Toys for everybody!"

Steve grinned as the room erupted in a cacophony of beeps, whistles, squeals, and chirps. Tony might talk tough, but it was clear just how much he loved his bots and how much they loved him in return.

Tony opened the cupboard under his desk and gently lobbed three tennis balls into the lab. The robots immediately scrambled after them, knocking into benches and tables as they clumsily reached for the balls.

"Don't you dare break anything!" Tony shouted after them.

Butterfingers punctured his tennis ball with his claw and then spent a few moments wildly gyrating in an attempt to shake it off. You managed to get tangled up in some wiring as he chased a ball under one of the tables. And Dummy had managed to squeeze his tennis ball hard enough to crack it open the second he clamped his claw around it. He made a distressed sound as he prodded the broken halves. But after a giggle from the baby, he zoomed back over to the playpen, ball quickly forgotten.

Steve burst out laughing.

Tony sank back into his chair and put his hand over his eyes. "I swear to god," he muttered. "It's like raising a pack of feral dogs."

Steve ruffled Tony's hair. "Well, you've done a pretty good job, considering."

Tony peered at him between his fingers. "You think so?"

"I know so."

Tony's bright smile made it all worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days fell into a comfortable routine. Steve went for a run in the park early every morning and Tony arrived right when he was starting to slow down. Together, they walked another lap with the baby and then stopped at one of the coffee shops close by.

It was nice to spend a little time with Tony every day. Especially time when they weren't arguing.

They weren't any closer to finding the baby's parents, but Steve was surprisingly okay with that. The baby's parents were probably sick with worry by now, but it was hard to think about that when Tony was practically glowing with happiness. They were still doing everything they could to locate the parents, of course. Steve would have felt guilty for giving up. But if he was a little relieved that Tony had another day with the baby, well, that was his business.

The baby seemed to be good for Tony. He still spent a few hours down in the workshop in the afternoons, but he was starting to spend more and more time on the common floor with the rest of the team, especially around mealtimes.

Steve had always been concerned by the fact that Tony seemed to survive for several days at a time on coffee and energy drinks, so it was a relief to see Tony actually eating. He had tried to check up on Tony every so often and bring him a sandwich or a muffin, but it was better to have Tony eating at the table with everyone else.

After their morning outings, Tony could usually be convinced to eat a piece of toast or a bagel while he fed the baby. And sometimes, Tony would even cook up some scrambled eggs and bacon, which was shocking to Steve at first because he had never seen Tony cook and had assumed he didn't know what he was doing. But he should have known better. Tony was making homemade baby food every morning.

Steve sat at the kitchen counter with his glass of orange juice and smiled as he watched Tony work.

Clint wandered in and blinked in surprise. "Are you seriously making baby food yourself? You have jars in the pantry."

Tony scoffed. "Those are just for the out-of-season fruits like blueberries and raspberries. Fresh fruit and vegetables have way more vitamins than the stuff in the jar. And it tastes better, too. And there's only so many flavors of baby food. I want Stephy to have variety in her diet. Only the best for my baby."

"She's not actually your baby, you know."

Tony gave him a long look. "I'm taking care of her and that means she's as good as mine right now. You think I'd give her junk just because I didn't give birth to her?"

Clint put up his hands defensively. "Not what I meant, man."

Tony snorted and spooned more pureed cantaloupe into a Tupperware. "Yeah, well, I'm going to experiment with all the foods I can find so I can figure out what Stephy likes. So far, she's into blueberries, bananas, carrots, and sweet potatoes, but she's really not a fan of green beans." He frowned at the container. "This better go down in the lab." He put a hand on Steve's shoulder as he passed the counter. "You look a little sleepy today. You should have another cup of coffee."

"Wow," Clint said, as soon as Tony was out of the kitchen."I didn't know Tony actually had omega instincts."

"Of course he does," Steve said immediately. "You haven't seen him with his bots. They all have their own personalities and he treats them like they're his children. In a way, I guess they are."

"Uh-huh," Clint said dubiously.

"And if you think about it, he takes care of us, too. He's always upgrading our weapons and armor and making sure we have everything we could ever want. We're his family now."

"You've got it bad," Natasha said from the doorway.

Steve frowned. "I've got what?"

Clint snickered. "You've got a thing for Tony, don't you? A nice little omega you can call your own?"

Steve felt his face heat. "We're friends," he insisted.

Clint thumped him on the back. "It's simple biology. The omega in him brings out the alpha in you."

"That's not how this works."

"Right," Natasha said with a secretive smile. "So, you're denying that you like this side of Tony?"

"Of course I like to see him happy," Steve said firmly. "He deserves a little happiness in his life."

"Keep telling yourself that," Clint said.

Somehow, Steve had the feeling that the two of them weren't going to let it go.

His suspicions were proven right the next morning when he awoke to his alarm blaring "I Won't Say I'm in Love".

And when he stumbled into the kitchen, Natasha and Clint were sitting around the counter giggling into their coffee.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, what did you do to my clock?"

"Nothing," Natasha said. But her sly smile wasn't very convincing.

"Fix it."

"Ask Tony. He's better with technology than I am."

Clint snickered.

Steve scowled. Of course he couldn't ask Tony's help. And they knew that.

"Since you did it, you need to fix it."

Natasha shook her head. "It's a good song. And maybe if you hear it every morning, you'll finally wake up and admit your feelings to yourself."

"You two think you're so clever, don't you? But you can't force people to fall in love. So, just stop it, okay?"

He channeled his frustration with the two spies into his morning run, pushing himself a good ten miles before Tony arrived at the park. But the aggravation was still there, under the surface. And he didn't realize how much of his anger was really showing through until Tony touched his shoulder and asked if he was okay.

"I'm fine," Steve said. "Just a little tired." Tired of the drama really, but Tony didn't need to know that.

Tony shook his head. "You're not at your best when you don't get enough rest. You should take a nap when we get home."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Are you really lecturing me about the importance of sleep?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "You can laugh now, but I'll be the one laughing when you fall asleep in the middle of your afternoon workout. And I'll be taking pictures."

Steve wasn't too proud to listen to advice, especially coming from Tony. The man was terrible at taking care of himself, but he had become surprisingly intuitive to everyone else's needs. So, if Tony thought taking a nap would help, Steve was going to take a nap.

He lay in bed for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling. "Jarvis, would you be willing to wake me up tomorrow morning so I don't have to use my alarm clock?"

"Certainly, Captain. Five a.m. as usual?"

"Perfect. Thanks, Jarvis." He threw the alarm clock at the wall, gratified by the way it instantly smashed into pieces.

He felt a little better the next morning woken up by Jarvis' gentle, "Captain, it is now 5 a.m. It is time to wake up" instead of loud, blaring music. But his mood dropped again over breakfast. Clint and Natasha spent most of the time making faces at him across the table. Natasha fluttered her eyelashes and Clint made kissy faces and jerked his thumb in Tony's direction.

Luckily, Tony seemed completely oblivious to the whole thing. He was too invested in feeding the baby to really pay attention to anything else.

After breakfast, Steve was eager to get away from them, but Clint grasped his arm before he could head out of the kitchen. "You seem a little stressed. And there's no better form of stress relief than video games."

"Call of Duty is still outlawed," Tony warned without looking up from his cereal.

Steve sighed. The last time Bucky had been over for a visit, he had had one of his panic attacks after watching Clint and Tony play. It would probably be another month before he would work up the courage to return to the Tower, but nobody wanted to take the chance of freaking him out again.

Clint shrugged. "We'll play something mild. Just in case."

Steve let himself be dragged into the den and pushed down onto the couch. He took up his controller, still feeling aggravated by the whole thing.

"Come on, Cap," Clint said. "This is supposed to be a fun game. Lighten up."

"How am I supposed to have fun when you keep teasing me?"

"We're just trying to help you out."

"I don't want your help," Steve ground out. He swung the Wii controller in a wide arc. It wasn't as satisfying as hitting a punching bag, but it would do for now.

"Jesus. Take it easy with that thing."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Tony wander into the room, muttering to himself. Clint nudged him in the side, but Steve refused to look up.

"You're no fun," Clint sighed. He tapped a few buttons on the controller and brought up another game. "This is a good one. What do you say, Steve?"

"Whatever."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Maybe you'll have a better time if your boyfriend plays with us."

Steve's eyes flicked to Tony, who had been examining the bookcase for the last fifteen minutes.

"Yep, that's a great idea," Clint said cheerfully. "Hey, Tony. Come play a couple rounds."

Tony turned, the baby slung low in his arms.

Clint winced. "Sorry, man. Didn't see you had Steph."

"No, it's cool. I'm the master of multitasking." Tony settled down on the couch and adjusted the baby on his lap. "So, what are we playing anyway?"

"Mario Party. You can play one-handed, right?"

The baby wrapped both hands around the Wiimote and tried to jam it in her mouth.

"No, no, no, sweetheart." Tony gently pried it out of her hands. "Yeah, sure. There's a couple easy games I could play."

They went through the list of mini games and picked out all the ones that didn't require swinging the Wiimote too vigorously. They were mostly puzzle games, but Steve was better at those anyway.

And eventually, he started to enjoy playing. Somewhere along the way, Clint had wandered off to get a snack and hadn't come back so it was just Tony. Steve was surprised when Bruce poked his head in the room to announce that he had made chili if anyone was ready for lunch.

Tony stretched and got to his feet, balancing the baby back on his hip. "Not bad for your first try," he said with a grin.

Steve snorted. "If you recall, I beat you a few times."

"And if you recall, I was playing one-handed."

"Excuses, excuses."

Tony's eyes gleamed. "So, you beat me once or twice. That doesn't mean a thing."

"How about a rematch, then? Right after lunch."

"Perfect," Tony said. "Let me put down the baby for her afternoon nap and then I am all yours, Cap."

Steve grinned. "Bring it on."

It was hard to believe that playing video games could be so draining, but after dueling with Tony off and on throughout the day, Steve was left with the well-worn feeling of satisfaction that usually only came after a heavy workout. After the late evening session of Super Smash Bros, Steve was ready to call it a night.

It felt like he had barely fallen asleep when he was roughly shaken awake. He blinked at the figure standing beside the bed.

"Tony? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Tony took a deep breath. "I'm going into heat."

Steve's eyes widened. "You actually have heats?"

He cursed his stupidity. Of course Tony would have heats. He was an omega, for crying out loud. But Steve had always assumed Tony was on suppressants because in all the time he had been at the Tower, he had never actually seen him go through a heat cycle.

Tony smiled nervously. "It came as a surprise to me, too. I haven't had a heat in a year."

"A year?" Steve repeated incredulously. "Aren't you supposed to go into heat-"

"Every two or three months, yeah." Tony drummed his fingers over the arc reactor. "But after all the years of partying, the shit that went down in Afghanistan, and then the palladium poisoning, well, let's just say my body's gotten pretty fucked up over the years."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"It's nothing. Just a hormone imbalance."

"Can't you get that fixed?"

"Look," Tony said quickly. "I don't wanna talk right now. Just, oh my god this is the worst timing ever, but I need your help."

"Whatever you need" Steve said. "Want me to call someone?"

Tony shook his head. "There isn't anybody. I just need you to fuck me, okay? You're not a virgin, are you? Please tell me you're not a virgin."

Steve grasped Tony's shoulders. "Relax. I know what I'm doing. I used to help Bucky through his heats back when he was..."

Well, back when he was a fully functional omega. Back before the monsters at Hydra started experimenting on him. Bucky might one day recover from all the psychological trauma, but he'd never be able to have children and would probably never go through heat again.

"Cap?" Tony prodded.

Steve shook himself. When he looked up, Tony was sitting at the foot of his bed, stark naked.

Well then.

Steve shed his pajama pants and pressed Tony down against the bed. He didn't smell as strong as omegas usually did in heat, but Steve could see the need in his glassy eyes and the sheen of sweat on his skin.

Tony wrapped his legs around Steve's waist and pulled him closer."Oh, Steve," he said in awed voice. "You're so big." He shifted a little and his eyes fluttered shut. "Just what I needed."

Steve stroked Tony's thigh. "Whatever you need," he repeated.

His mother had taught him how to be a good alpha. Heats were all about the omega. His own desires came second. So he listened to Tony's pleas for more, faster, harder until the genius cried out and came.

Tony sagged back against the bed with a contented sigh.

"Feel okay?"

"For now." He yawned. "Can I stay here the night just in case?"

"Of course," Steve said.

"Ah, you're awesome." Tony snuggled into his chest and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Steve caught himself before he brushed a hand over Tony's cheek. It was just heat sex, he reminded himself. It didn't mean anything for Tony.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sir! Wake up, sir!"

Steve jerked awake. "What's the emergency, Jarvis?"

The bed dipped as Tony stretched out beside him. "Not an emergency. That's the Stephy alarm. Sadly, she seems to be a morning person. She's been waking up at 4 a.m. every day." He frowned. "I should have thought about that before I spent the night."

"No big deal," Steve said. "Want me to get her? I would have gotten up in an hour anyway."

"Nah. I'm used to it now." Tony tossed off the covers and slid out of bed. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go instead? You're still in heat." He gestured to Tony's crotch.

Tony looked down. "Oh. Well, we'll take care of that later. The baby comes first." He swept the sheets off the bed and wrapped them around himself. "You better be raring to go when I get back."

Steve sighed and put a hand over his eyes. This was just the level of weirdness he should have expected from Tony.

"Sir will be a few minutes," Jarvis said. "You're welcome to rest until his return."

"Thanks, Jarvis. Wake me up when he gets back."

But he woke instead to hot breath against his neck and a tongue tracing the shell of his ear.

Steve frowned and squirmed out of Tony's reach. "What was that for?"

"Aha," Tony said, his eyes fever-bright. "I knew that would get you up."

Steve pulled Tony down onto the bed with him. "Everything settled?"

Tony nodded."Nat's going to take the baby for her walk today. As she said, people are more likely to approach a woman with a baby than a man. Because people are idiots and don't realize how scary she is."

"Don't worry," Steve said. "We'll find the baby's parents eventually. In the meantime, let's focus on you."

Tony's eyes darkened and he shifted to straddle Steve's waist. "I like the way you think, Stevie. Let's do this."

Steve let Tony take charge and do whatever he wanted. He was a little surprised by how much kissing there was. Tony kissed like he was desperate for it. And maybe he was. Steve knew some omegas who felt so empty during a heat that they needed their partner's every touch.

"You're good," Tony panted after they separated. "I am definitely coming to you from now on."

It was flattering for Tony to pick him specifically to get him through his heats, but then again, he and Natasha were the team's alphas. And alphas had better stamina to last through intense heats.

"I'll be here whenever you need me," Steve promised. From what Tony had told him last night, he wouldn't need him again for another year, but at least Steve had this heat with Tony and he was going to be grateful for that.

Tony yawned and snuggled into Steve's side. "You're so warm. Just like a nice latte."

"I could bring you one if you want. You'll have to keep your energy up for the next couple days."

Tony waved a hand dismissively. "It's probably not going to be that bad. I haven't had a true heat in years." His mouth twisted in a self-deprecating smile. "I'm basically just a slut for a day or so."

Steve frowned. "Don't talk about yourself that way."

"Well, it's true. You would have never known I was in heat unless I told you. I don't have those lovely pheromones that bring all the alphas to the yard. I did when I was younger though." Tony's expression became distant. "I had six or seven alphas fighting over me one time. So I slept with all of them and woke up hating myself the next morning."

Steve stroked Tony's shoulder. "It's your business who you go through your heat with. If you need more than one partner to satisfy you, so be it. Nobody should judge you. It's your body and only you know what you need."

Tony stared at him a long moment. "Jesus. Where were you twenty years ago?"

Steve grinned. "In the ice."

Tony shoved him. "Smartass. You owe me breakfast now."

"Of course. Coffee, coffee, and more coffee?"

Tony laced his hands behind his head. "And a slice of coffee cake. And a banana. And maybe a piece of toast. Oh, and some of those little breakfast sausages."

"I'm going to need to bring up the entire kitchen," Steve grumbled good-naturedly. It was a good sign that Tony was eating. Omegas tended to burn a lot of calories during a heat so they needed to eat a lot more than usual to keep their strength up.

Natasha was in the kitchen feeding the baby green puree when Steve walked in.

"I hope those aren't green beans," he said.

"No, avocado. It's weird, but Stephy seems to like it."

"Huh." Steve said. "Only Tony would think of avocado baby food." He grabbed a couple slices of toast and stuck them in the toaster.

"Did Tony tell you he wasn't feeling well this morning?" Natasha asked. "I hope you weren't looking for him at the park."

"Oh, I know," Steve said. "I told him to stay in bed while I got him breakfast."

"Well, I hope he feels better soon. He's smart to stay away from the baby while he's sick, but I'm sure he must be missing her already."

"Well, you know how Tony is," Steve said. He reached around her to get a slice of coffee cake.

Natasha frowned at all the food piled on the plate. "Are you sure he doesn't want something a little lighter?"

"Oh no, this is mostly for me," Steve said quickly. "I'm going to sit up with him and make sure he eats his, uh, toast."

Her lips curved into a smile. "I see. Well, good luck."

Yeah, it wasn't such a great idea to try and keep secrets from Natasha. She had a way of finding out everything. But if Tony wanted to pretend he was sick, Steve was going to keep up the charade as best he could.

Tony was still curled up in bed when he returned, squeezing Steve's pillow in his arms.

"You still hungry?" Steve asked. "Or do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?"

"No, I'm fine." Tony sat up in bed surveyed the plate. "So, you brought all the food I asked for, but you didn't bring me my baby. What's the matter with you, Steve? You're throwing that poor child to the wolves."

Steve gave him a sidelong look. "Natasha was under the impression that you're ill, so she was gong to take Stephy for the day so she doesn't get sick, too."

"Damn it," Tony muttered.

"You should have just told her you were in heat. Heats are nothing to be ashamed of, you know."

Tony sighed. "But if I'm fine tomorrow, I'll have to hear how it wasn't really a heat, just an excuse to get you to sleep with me."

"Nobody is going to think that," Steve assured him.

It hurt to think that Tony didn't trust the team to support him. It hurt even worse to think that somebody must have said something like that to Tony in the past. And nobody should ever make an omega feel like they were less of a person because of the intensity of their heats. Even back in the 40s, that was unacceptable thought.

"You can't guarantee that," Tony insisted. "I have a reputation for sleeping around."

"Nobody is going to say one word to you about faking a heat," Steve said firmly. "And I know that because they're our friends. We all care about you, Tony. We tease you sometimes and give you hell about how much time you spend in the lab, but we mean well. We're a family now and that means we're going to take care of you and defend you against all the horrible things people have been saying about you."

Tony leaned into him. "Thanks, Steve. You're a saint."

Steve stroked Tony's shoulder. "This is how everyone's supposed to treat you. And I think you'll find that the rest of the team thinks the same way. So, are you willing to admit you're in heat so you can spend a little time with the baby in between bouts?"

"Okay, fine. I'm ready for my miraculous recovery." He hooked his arms around Steve's neck. "But only if you carry me."

Steve scooped Tony into his arms. For such a larger-than-life personality, Tony was a lot lighter than Steve expected. With Tony's arms hooked around his neck, he could easily carry him one-handed to open doors and press buttons on the elevator.

He glanced at his watch. Everyone would probably be done with breakfast by now, but it was still early enough that everyone was probably still hanging around the Tower. So, the first place to look would be the den.

In the den, the baby was sitting in the middle of the floor banging blocks together while Natasha sat close by on the couch reading.

She glanced up briefly. "Tony suckered you into carrying him, did he?" She shook her head and turned another page in her book. "He's not that sick."

Steve deposited Tony onto the loveseat across from her. "He's in heat."

Natasha smiled. "What an interesting turn of events."

"It's been such a long time, I forgot what heat feels like," Tony said quickly.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't call him out on the obvious lie.

Tony hunched his shoulders. "It's kind of like being sick. You're feverish and achy and then after you have sex, you feel so much better. But then you're achy again."

"I'll make you a cup of parsley tea," Natasha said. "It's a good muscle relaxant."

"Parsley tea?" Tony frowned. "It's going to be one of those gross things, isn't it?"

"Parsley is not gross. It's good for you."

Steve smiled as Natasha shepherded Tony into the kitchen. Omegas were good at taking care of a family, but a good alpha knew how to take care of an omega. And Tony needed to see that Natasha was one of the good ones. Steve didn't want to be the only person Tony ever trusted. He liked spending time with Tony, but omegas were always happier when they connected with all the people around them.

So Steve took a seat on the loveseat and just listened to Natasha and Tony's playful bickering.

Tony returned, clutching his mug of tea. He sighed theatrically and sprawled across Steve on the loveseat. "I hate heats."

Steve stroked his hair. "You could go on suppressants, you know."

Tony sighed. "I know. But I've been told that could fu-" he glanced furtively at the baby, "screw up my hormones even worse. I might completely lose my sex drive."

"Not worth it," Steve agreed.

Tony frowned thoughtfully and then slid off the couch to play with the baby. "Hey, Stephy. Did you miss Momma this morning?"

There was no denying the way the baby lit up around Tony. The baby probably couldn't recognize her own mother after all the time cycling though nannies, but she sure recognized Tony.

From across the room, Natasha stared at him knowingly.

He shook his head. It just wasn't going to happen.

She rolled her eyes. "Men," she said scornfully and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Tony asked.

"No idea," Steve said. "So, feeling any better?"

Tony nodded eagerly and wrapped the baby in his arms. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to take my little girl out tomorrow morning." He rubbed noses with the baby. "Oh, you're going to be so excited to have Mommy back, aren't you?"

The baby squealed and reached out to touch Tony's face.

Tony kissed her fingers. "Oh, I missed you too, baby."

Steve shifted uncomfortably. He was beginning to feel like he was intruding on a private bonding moment between the two of them. But there was no way he could leave Tony alone at the moment.

"You can go hit the gym," Tony said. "I'll be fine down in the lab for a few hours."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. You need to make up for your morning run."

Steve sighed. "Tony, I don't need to-"

"Couple hours, Steve. Go. I don't need you hovering over me all day."

Steve felt bad about how easily he accepted the chance to leave. But Tony was right. His heats were much milder than usual, so they would both have plenty of time on their own before Tony's body really needed another round of sex.

And it would do them good to spend time apart. Tony obviously would rather spend time with the baby. And while Steve liked spending time with Tony, he really needed some time alone. He couldn't afford to get too attached to Tony.

They were friends, nothing more. Tony only wanted him to get him through his heat. And the sooner he got that through his head, the easier it would be.

He threw himself into his workout with a little more force than usual. The poor punching bags didn't stand a chance.

An hour later, Steve's phone rang and he took a seat against the wall, welcoming the break. "Hello?"

He was met with heavy breathing and a low whimper.

"Tony?"

"You better be ready to go right now," Tony said urgently. "I'm coming up to see you."

"I could come down to you," Steve offered.

"Absolutely not. I promised Jarvis I would never, ever, ever have sex down in the lab. I don't want to scar the bots for life."

The gym doors slid open and Tony rushed inside. He tackled Steve to the ground and straddled him on the mat, wide-eyed and desperate.

They had two more rounds after that, one just after noon and one at eight. Since the time between bouts had gotten pretty long, Tony went back to his own bed for the night.

Steve tried not to feel too disappointed. After all, he would see Tony again in the morning when they went for their walk. And that was going to have to be enough.

The next day dawned bright and sunny. Steve went for his usual run to start the day, but his morning routine didn't feel complete until Tony showed up with the baby.

The baby fell asleep three-quarters of the way along, which was pretty normal. After getting up at four, she tended to take a late-morning nap. And after the baby fell asleep, Tony moved on to discussing more adult topics with Steve.

Tony was in a good mood, rambling on about some kind of experimental body armor he was developing for the assassins. Steve didn't understand half of what he was talking about, but Tony was excited about it and just having someone listen to him talk about his success seemed to be enough.

They rounded the last corner and suddenly there a swarm of reporters snapping pictures and shouting, "Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark!"

Tony squeezed his eyes shut. "Goddamnit."

"You don't owe them an interview," Steve said under his breath.

"I know," Tony whispered back. Out loud, he said, "Nothing to see here, folks. Just going for a morning stroll with my baby. Let's all move along."

One eager young man shoved a microphone in Tony's face."Mr. Stark, there's been speculation that you and Miss Potts are the parents of this child. Can you confirm that?"

Tony snorted. "No, we're not her parents. She's just some random stranger's baby."

"What he means," Steve said quickly, "is that this baby was found in the rubble during our last mission and he's taking care of her until the parents are found."

He gave Tony a sidelong look. In all his years fielding press reports, Tony really should have known better than to say something so stupid in front of the paparazzi.

Tony plastered on a fake smile. "So, if you or anybody you know can help us locate the baby's parents, give us a call. You know where we are." He took a few steps towards the exit and then the reporters closed in around him again, each clamoring to have their questions heard.

"Mr. Stark, has anything been done to locate the baby's parents?"

"Have you considered adopting the child yourself if the parents aren't found?"

"Has it been a struggle for you with no previous parenting experience?"

And then the baby began to wail.

Tony cradled the baby against his chest and stroked her back. "Shh, it's okay. The nasty news people aren't going to bother you anymore." He glared daggers at the reporters. "Nice going, jerks. You just ruined Stephy's naptime. How does it feel to frighten a poor, innocent baby to get your story?"

Steve tugged Tony's arm. "Come on. Let's go home."

He pushed the stroller forward, parting the sea of reporters. Tony followed after him, rocking the baby in his arms and trying to soothe her. But the baby didn't really settle back down until they got back to the Tower.

Tony immediately dropped down onto the couch, the baby still snuggled into his chest. "Finally," he said quietly. "Poor Stephy."

"She'll be fine," Steve said. "They just startled her."

"Yeah." Tony stroked her head. "Still hate to hear her crying, though."

Natasha poked her head into the den. "Clint and I are out on the balcony playing cards with Thor. You want to put the baby down and come play a few hands?

"Nope," Tony said. "I'm going to hold her for a little while. She needs to be comforted after all that awfulness."

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"We had a run-in with the media," Steve explained.

"Oops," she said.

"Seriously, Nat? You sicced the paparazzi on us? Not cool. I thought we were friends."

She shrugged. "I might have casually mentioned to a few people that you're in the park with the baby every morning. Isn't that what you've been doing? Spreading the news that the baby's with us?"

"And you just had to talk to the most annoying, loudmouth reporters you could find. Thanks a lot."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I told a journalism major and-" Her phone buzzed. "Hold that thought." She picked it up and frowned."Bad news, guys." She held up the phone so they could all see.

On-screen was a text from Fury demanding to see them all in the conference room immediately.

The timing couldn't have been worse.

Tony sighed. "I'll call Pepper. Again."


	6. Chapter 6

Fury folded his arms over his chest and glowered at them. "Do you know why I called this meeting?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Because you want to yell at us for no good reason, like usual?"

"Oh, I've got a very good reason this time." He pulled up a news clip of Tony scolding the paparazzi for waking Stephy."Want to explain this disaster?"

"It's not my fault," Tony protested. "I wasn't prepared for Natasha's ninja friends to jump us. Seriously, those fuckers were jumping out of bushes."

"They really were," Steve said.

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't care what they did. You people are trained to handle supervillains and you let a few reporters get the best of you. I don't have time for shit like this."

"Look on the bright side," Tony said. "We got Stephy on the news."

"I don't see how that's going to help," Clint said. "Babies all kind of look the same."

"No, they don't," Tony argued. "Stephy is so much cuter than most babies."

Steve shrugged. He had seen some pretty ugly babies back in his day. So she was definitely better looking than all those wailing babies with red, scrunched faces.

"You could put Stephy in a line-up of fifty babies and I could still pick her out every time," Tony said confidently. "And I've only had her for a week." He elbowed Clint. "Fifty bucks says Stephy's parents will recognize her from that little bit of footage."

"The only thing they're going to recognize is that some fucking idiot has their baby," Fury growled.

Tony's shoulders slumped. "So they're probably going to hurry over and rescue Stephy from me, then."

"That's not fair," Steve objected. "Tony's been wonderful with the baby. The parents should really be grateful that he's been taking care of her."

"Well, I'm glad someone is," Fury said darkly. "Because I'm not. This aired an hour ago and I've had about fifty phone calls from assholes who think I should march on into your Tower and take the baby before they call Child Protective Services and arrest you for child endangerment."

"Hell no," Tony said indignantly. "They can't arrest me for anything. Stephy's safe with me."

Fury folded his arms over his chest. "The general public doesn't share your opinion."

"Then we just have to convince them otherwise," Steve said firmly. "We'll hold an Avengers press conference. The reporters can ask all the questions they want until they see that Tony knows what he's doing."

"Great," Fury said. "As long as it gets the fuckers off my back. I'm tired of cleaning up all your problems. I've got my own shit to take care of."

Steve rose from his seat. "Send word that we're on our way."

"Now?" Clint protested.

"Yes," Steve said firmly. "We're already assembled. Might as well get it over with."

"Absolutely," Fury said. "Now get the hell out of my office."

Steve marched resolutely towards the elevator. He didn't exactly like sitting through press conferences. The reporters had a way of catching him off-guard with certain questions about his personal life that made him feel like an awkward, gangly teenager again. But this time, it would be easier. He knew what all the questions would be about and he was ready for them.

Tony caught up to him in the hallway and smiled at him. "Thanks for having my back in there."

"Of course," Steve said. "I'll always have your back."

"You're really something else," Clint muttered as he pushed past them onto the elevator.

"What?" Tony said defensively. "I know how to thank people when they do me a favor. I'm not a total asshole, you know. I just play one on TV."

"We know that," Natasha said. "So don't play the asshole today. Just be yourself."

She had a bunch of other more specific tips for Tony. Things like not wearing the armor so he'd look more approachable and sitting in the middle of the table so it'd be clear that they all supported him. Steve tuned out most of it. As far as he was concerned, telling Tony to be himself was the only advice she needed to give him. If the press could see how genuinely Tony loved the baby, no one would question his ability to take care of her.

When they got downstairs, Maria Hill was finishing the press conference set-up. "I heard you volunteered for this one," she said.

Steve nodded. "That's right."

She eyed them suspiciously. "I usually have to drag you all in here kicking and screaming."

"This wasn't my idea," Clint said. "They made me-Ow! What the fuck, Nat?"

"Don't mind him," Natasha said serenely. "He forgets how we vouched for him after the Loki mind control debacle."

Clint frowned and rubbed the spot on his arm where Natasha pinched him. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Nope. So, suck it up. We're here for Tony."

Steve grinned. It was really great to have her as the second alpha on the team.

The team settled into their spots at the table, with Natasha directly to Tony's left and Steve to his right. It was probably another one of Natasha's interview strategies to have Tony sitting right between the two alphas. A more united front, or something.

The press began trickling in, taking their seats in the rows of chairs Agent Hill had set up. There were close to a hundred seats and all of them were getting filled. Considering the size of the group that had ambushed them earlier that morning, Steve wasn't exactly surprised. For whatever reason, Tony taking care of a baby was the story of the hour.

"Thank you all for joining us," Tony said cheerfully once everyone was seated. "As, I'm sure you all know, I'm currently taking care of a baby we found in the aftermath of the Battering Ram mission. And since Agent Barton was the one to find her, he can fill you in on the details of the rescue."

Clint shot Tony a dirty look, but he explained how he had spotted the baby in the rubble and taken her into SHIELD.

"And as the team's omega, naturally I stepped in to look after her," Tony continued. "And that's that. Any questions?"

Of course there were questions. Every single reporter looked like they had questions.

"Why isn't the baby here with you now?" a young reporter in the first row questioned.

"Oh, she's with Pepper," Tony said. "Pepper watches her whenever Avengers stuff comes up. I can't exactly take a baby into battle, can I?"

"But this isn't a battle, Mr. Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you haven't seen the footage from this morning. Looked kind of like a war zone to me."

There were a few chuckles and the reporter ducked his head, hurriedly scribbling something in his notepad.

"I get it," Tony said. "You all want to see the baby. So, I'll give you the next best thing." He pulled out his cell phone and tapped in a few commands and then laid it down on the table, bringing up one of his holographic screens. "Jarvis, give me camera six."

Steve was surprised when an image of their kitchen popped up on screen. There was Pepper, standing in front of the baby's high chair with a spoonful of applesauce in her hand. "I know this is your favorite," she cooed.

"Hey, Pep, you're kind of blocking the shot," Tony said into the phone.

Pepper jerked back, looking wildly around the kitchen. "Tony? Is that really-" She got closer to the screen. "My god, you put cameras in here?"

"Of course I did," Tony said. "There are cameras everywhere. Now, could you move a little to the left? The people want to see Stephy."

"People? What people? Are you actually filming this?" Pepper hurriedly flattened down her hair.

"Oh, I'm just showing this to a few friends in the press," Tony said casually. "You look great, by the way."

"Tony Stark, you turn this camera off right now," Pepper hissed.

Tony sighed theatrically. "Never mind. I'll just do it myself." He traced a finger over the screen and the camera panned a little to the right, focusing on the baby, happily jamming her fist into her mouth.

"Hi, Stephy!" Tony said brightly.

The baby smiled and waved her arms. "Amam."

There was a collective "aww".

Tony leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. "She's a cutie, isn't she?"

For a moment, it seemed like everyone was too busy focusing on the baby to think of any more questions. But then a stern-looking woman in the third row waved a hand.

"Captain Rogers, can you explain the series of events that led to Mr. Stark ending up as the baby's primary caretaker?"

Steve frowned. "He volunteered for the job and that was that. Next question."

The woman continued on. "Can you address the wisdom of allowing a man with no previous childcare expertise-"

"He's an omega," Steve cut in. "Which means he has maternal instincts. No, he's never raised a child before. But, you would never know that seeing him interact with her. The baby's happy and healthy and that's really all that matters, right?"

Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case. After the woman's initial barrage, Steve found himself fielding more and more questions about why they had decided to let Tony raise the baby.

He had known that people would be skeptical of Tony's parenting abilities, but he hadn't anticipated how irritated he would be hearing all the biased questions. No matter how many times he told them that Tony was doing great, they asked again, in a different way, if he was sure that Tony was really the right person to look after a baby. As if the twentieth time they asked, he was supposed to break down and admit that Tony was letting the baby chew on electrical wires or something.

"Look," Steve said with a sigh. "Tony is really-"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something being hurled into the room.

"Get down!" Steve shouted. He tackled Tony to the floor, intensely conscious of how vulnerable Tony was out of his suit.

Everyone was screaming and shouting as the room began to fill up with smoke.

"This way to the exit, good people," Thor bellowed, swinging his hammer to clear the air.

"We've got a visual on the suspect," Natasha announced over the comm. "Clint and I are in pursuit."

"Good work," Steve said.

Tony squirmed under him. "Steve, you have to let me up. I need the suit."

Steve blinked. Instinctively, he wanted to keep Tony safe beneath him, shield him from whatever the attack was. But Tony was right. The suit would protect him a lot better than he could.

He rolled off Tony and joined Thor in directing people to the exit. So far, it looked like the smoke didn't have any ill effects. It was probably just meant to create panic and disruption.

"Is the building clear? We could use a little help here."

"On my way," Tony announced. His outline was barely visible through the smoke as he took off for the door.

He'd be okay, Steve reassured himself. The suit would filter out the smoke.

Outside, Bruce was looking people over. He wasn't a doctor, of course, but he knew more about basic first aid than the rest of the team did. And his calm presence would be reassuring to all the panicky news people.

"You're doing a good job, Bruce," Steve said. "Thor, you're with me. Let's go catch this guy."

When they caught up to the rest of the team, Natasha was standing with her gun aimed up at the rooftops and Tony was slowly circling the street.

"Did we lose him?" Steve asked.

"No," Natasha said, shifting her stance slightly. "He's still in the area. He's just-"

"More annoying than that camouflaging guy we had a month ago," Tony said.

A man in a trenchcoat suddenly appeared behind a row of trash cans."They call me Molotov, Master of Destruction." He hurled another smoke bomb into the street.

Natasha fired off a few shots, but when the smoke cleared, he was gone.

"Hoo boy," Tony said. "We're going to be here for awhile."

"In case you were wondering, Cap," Clint said, "a Molotov is usually used by protestors-"

"I know what it is," Steve said peevishly. "These things were invented back in my day."

Tony snickered. "Don't mess with Steve. He's a man who knows things."

"So, is this all he's been doing?" Steve questioned. "Throwing smoke bombs and using the cover to make his escape?"

"Pretty much," Natasha said.

"He threw a flashbang once," Clint added.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "All we need is a few extra sets of eyes to keep track of him."

Steve frowned. "For someone named Molotov, Master of Destruction, he's not very destructive, is he?"

"Nope."

Tony swooped in lower, hovering around the trash cans where Molotov had last been spotted. "Yeah, he's more of an annoying-oh fuck!" He quickly reversed direction, but the bomb exploded right in front of him. The force of the blast knocked Tony back a few feet and he went skidding across the ground.

"Shit, shit, shit."

"Tony, are you okay?" Steve asked anxiously.

"No," Tony grumbled. "The HUD's down. It's pitch black in here."

Steve could faintly pick up Jarvis' voice in the background saying, "Sir, the suit is fully operational."

"No, it's not," Tony snapped. "You're so broken, you don't even realize that you're broken." He began struggling out of the armor, still muttering to himself about all the things he'd have to fix.

Steve sighed and tapped a finger to the comm. "Clint, you see him?" With Tony out of commission, Clint was their only aerial support.

And then he was hit with a wave of omega in distress scent.

"Oh god," Tony said. "Oh god, oh god. I can't see. I can't fucking see." The helmet and pieces of his suit were scattered around his feet and he was stumbling over them as he flailed around unsteadily.

"Deep breaths," Bruce said soothingly. "Your vision should clear up soon. Try not to panic."

"I can't help it," Tony said, his voice rising hysterically. "It's like New York all over again. Just this endless black void and there's nothing out there and nobody can do anything to save me."

Molotov touched down on the ground next to Steve. "How the mighty have fallen," he said with a chuckle.

Steve punched him in the jaw, satisfied as Molotov crumpled to the ground.

"Holy shit," Clint said.

"What? What happened?" Tony demanded.

"Steve just straight up socked the guy in the mouth."

"Yeah, well, I didn't like the shit that was coming out of it," Steve retorted.

Tony laughed nervously, and his eyes darted to the side. "So, the bad guy's down. Good, good. At least I don't have to worry about him sneaking up on me. But, god, this is still the worst."

"You're going to be okay," Steve said soothingly. "This is nothing like the black hole. You're not alone this time." He put a hand on Tony's shoulder, meaning to follow it up with a comforting gesture.

Tony tensed. "Steve? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

Tony's hands groped blindly through the air before connecting with Steve's chest. "Oh, thank god. It is you." Tony wrapped his arms around him and clung to him like an octopus. "It's so awful to have people touching you and no fucking idea who it is."

Steve shifted him in his arms. "Let's get you back to the Tower and have Bruce check you out. Hopefully your vision will come back on its own."

"It is a little," Tony admitted. "I can see vague outlines, but I can't make out any faces yet."

"Good. Maybe you'll be okay by the time we get home." Since Tony had a little of his vision back, he'd probably be okay walking on his own, might feel a little more dignified that way. But Steve wasn't going to put Tony down until he asked.

Natasha slapped a pair of SHIELD-issue cuffs on Molotov and hauled him to his feet. "You're going to regret this, you son of a bitch," she hissed in his ear.

"I didn't mean it, okay?" he whined. "It was just a bit of fun. Just something to get on TV."

"It's all fun and games until you end up in prison."

And then the media arrived on scene, snapping pictures and asking for comments on the situation.

Tony yelped and buried his face in Steve's shirt. "Holy fuck, that hurts."

"Give the man some space," Steve said sternly. "He's wounded."

"Back up," Natasha growled. She marched Molotov into the gaggle of reporters, forcing them to take a few steps back. "Want a close-up of the idiot with the smoke bombs? He's just dying to get on TV."

While the reporters reluctantly snapped pictures of Molotov and informed their viewers that there was no terrorist involvement and the man responsible for the attack on the press conference had been caught, Steve whisked Tony off to the Tower.

Bruce examined Tony's eyes and reported that there was no permanent damage, so his vision should clear up completely within an hour or two, but he was advised to stay away from his computers and tablets for the rest of the day just in case.

Tony didn't seem inclined to get back to work anyway. He just huddled on the couch in the den and cradled the baby in his arms as everyone went about the rest of their day around him. When everyone went to the table to eat dinner, Tony followed them into the kitchen, but otherwise, he didn't move from the couch.

He was too afraid of being alone, Steve realized. While his vision was still cloudy, he wanted someone there, to reassure him that he would be safe, that nothing would hurt him while he was vulnerable.

Tony's vision came back shortly after seven, but he was still quiet and subdued. Steve ached for him. He missed Tony's vibrant, spirited personality and he wished he could do anything to help.

At midnight, he found Tony still in the den, standing in front of the windows and staring out into the night.

"It's so dark out there," he said.

"I'll spend the night with you, if you want," Steve said. "So you don't have to be alone in the darkness."

He expected Tony to say no, to reject his offer as some kind of pity. But Tony just nodded and headed towards the elevator.

Steve followed him and they rode up in silence to Tony's room.

Tony's room was as opulent as Steve imagined, with a king-sized bed in the middle, covered in red silk sheets.

Tony stripped down to his underwear and slid under the sheets. Steve followed his lead. He would have preferred his pajamas, but at least it was a warm spring night. And with Tony clinging to him, he would at least have his body heat.

"I'm not usually this pathetic," Tony muttered, turning his face away.

"We all have our fears," Steve said. "For me, it's the ice. If we ever went on a mission in the middle of a blizzard, I'd be panicking, too."

"Oh, sure," Tony huffed. "But the difference is that you know how to put on a brave face so no one sees your fear. And I just fucking broadcast my biggest weakness to the whole world. Now every villain from here to Asgard is going to try and blind me because that's a surefire way to bring me down like a rock." He sighed. "I'm useless now. I might as well quit the team."

"Anthony Edward Stark, you are not quitting," Steve said sternly. "Quitting is the coward's way out and I know you're not a coward."

"It's not cowardice," Tony argued. "I'll be a liability now. No one wants-"

"Stop," Steve said. "I know what it's like to feel like you don't know what you're doing. I've felt that way pretty much my entire life. And it's worse these days because I'm still trying to figure out all the simple things like programming the TV. It would be so easy to just go off into the middle of nowhere and pretend that all the tech doesn't exist. And for awhile, I thought about just going back to sleep and not waking up again."

"Jesus Christ," Tony breathed. "Steve, why didn't you tell anyone? If I had known-"

"It's better now," Steve said. "Now, I'm almost afraid to go to sleep because I might not wake up again for another seventy years, and you'll be gone."

"Not going to happen," Tony declared. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Steve stroked Tony's hair. "And what about Iron Man? Is he sticking around, too?"

Tony huffed and burrowed down into his pillow. "I see how it is. You're sneakier than people give you credit for. Well, I'll think about it."

Steve smiled. "That's all I ask."


	7. Chapter 7

When he woke up the next morning, Tony was already gone. He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Fat lot of good I did," he muttered.

"You underestimate yourself, Captain," Jarvis said. "Sir merely rose to take care of the child."

So Tony had managed to get some sleep after all. That was good.

He padded into the kitchen. No Tony. But then again, it was a little early for their walk. He'd probably be down in the lab or wherever he was while Steve went for his morning run.

But Clint was there and he grinned widely at Steve. "You little scamp. Looks like you don't need our help after all."

Steve frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Clint took a sip of his coffee and waggled his eyebrows above the mug. "I heard you spent the night in Stark's room."

"I was comforting him," Steve said indignantly. "You saw how upset he was after the battle. I couldn't leave him alone like that."

"Sure," Clint said. "But you went up to Tony's room. And an omega's room is his sanctuary. He must think you're pretty special."

"Or maybe his bed's just comfier."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Come on, Cap. You know there's more to it than that. Tony trusts and respects you. And that's saying a lot considering all the problems he's had with alphas in the past. So, just go with it. You'll be good for him."

Steve shook his head. He wasn't going to think about that stuff right now. He was going to go for a run, not think about it, and that was that.

He headed for the front door, but backtracked at the sound of giggling. Poking his head into the den, he was greeted by the sight of Tony deep into a dramatic reenactment of yesterday's battle with large blocks painted to look like the Avengers.

"-and then the evil Molotov reappeared out of nowhere," Tony intoned solemnly, pulling another block out from beneath a couch cushion.

The baby looked suitably surprised.

"Mommy was hurt in battle," Tony said, knocking the Iron Man block onto its side. "But then Captain America came to save the day." The Molotov block was kicked to the side and the Iron Man block balanced on top of Captain America.

The baby grabbed for the blocks, taking the Captain America one and banging it resolutely against the floor.

Tony leaned back with a sigh. "I bet you wish your daddy was an awesome hero like Captain America," he said. "But maybe he is. Maybe he's a policeman or a firefighter or a paramedic."

Steve cleared his throat.

Tony glanced up quickly. "Oh, hey, Steve. How long have you been standing there?"

Steve grinned. "Long enough." He crouched down next to Tony. "It's cute, but I doubt the baby really recognizes the concept of father yet. To her, he's probably just some man that shows up every evening."

Tony's mouth twisted. "Or maybe her father's some man who wants nothing to do with her and she never really sees him except on the news, where everyone praises him as this wonderful person who's doing so much for the world even though-"

"You're projecting again," Steve said gently.

Tony frowned. "Well, okay. What if Stephy doesn't have a father figure? What if he completely abandoned their family? That's got to be just as bad."

"Or he could be dead," Steve said. "My dad died when I was really young. He made it through the first World War, but he was never quite the same afterwards. Didn't have the will to live anymore."

"I'm sorry," Tony said.

Steve shrugged. "We got by, somehow. I know they say children are better off in families with both parents, where the children are exposed to more than one hormone set. But I think I turned out alright being raised by a single mother."

"Stephy isn't going to just get by," Tony said firmly. "She's going to have everything she needs, including a family that loves her."

"She already has that," Steve said. "You're doing great with her and I know she-"

"I said family. I love her, but I'm not so sure about the rest of you. Especially Clint."

Steve sighed. "Clint does not hate the baby. You'd have to be a pretty callous person to hate something to small and innocent. What Clint hates are dirty diapers."

Tony squinted at him. "Fair enough. But that doesn't mean he can shirk out of spending time with her." He rose to his feet. "And he's going to get to know our baby if I have to drag him in here."

Steve grabbed Tony's arm. "Take it easy," he said. "We're going to go for our morning walk and talk this over before you do anything rash."

"It's a perfectly reasonable request," Tony protested. "The baby lives here now. So would it kill them to stop avoiding her? I'm not asking them to change diapers, but they could at least play with her a little."

"They're keeping out of the way because you made it clear Stephy was your baby and you didn't want or need their help."

Tony frowned. "Oh."

"Natasha was perfectly willing to take care of the baby while you were in heat, so you need to cut her a little slack. She just doesn't want to step on your toes if you want to be the baby's sole caregiver. And as for everyone else, they probably have no idea how to handle a baby, so they'd just rather you do everything, since you obviously know what you're doing so well."

"I can teach them," Tony said brightly.

"I'm sure you can," Steve said. "Now, let's go for our walk." He towed Tony towards the door.

Tony was brimming with excitement about getting the rest of the Avengers spending time with the baby. He chattered on for a good fifteen minutes about how everyone was going to love the baby and how happy Stephy would be to have more playmates.

"Between you and me, we're doing a good job with this baby on our own. But it's probably good for Stephy to hang around the betas, just in case she is one. I'd do a blood test to find out for sure, but I don't think Stephy would like that."

"I wouldn't think so," Steve said. He had hated all the blood tests he was subjected to after receiving the serum.

"So,when we get home, I need to make a list of all the fun, not gross things everyone can do to help with the baby."

Steve smiled as Tony launched into a lengthy list of all the fun things they could do with the baby. It was nice to see him so happy and optimistic again.

When they returned to the Tower, Tony rounded everyone up and herded them into the den. He settled the baby down on a blanket in the middle of the room. "So," Tony began. "This isn't me admitting I need help or anything. This is me offering you all the wonderful privilege of spending time with this little angel. You guys can get to enjoy all the fun parts like feeding her or reading to her and I'll take care of all the rest. Because I know I can't trust the lot of you with anything important like changing her diapers or bathing her."

Steve sighed. Because the best way to get someone to help with something was to start off by insulting them. Tony sure had a way with words.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Just tell us what you want us to do."

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. Just spend time with her and keep her entertained."

"I can do that easy," Clint said. "I'll just lug out all my equipment. That should hold her interest for a couple hours."

"Stephy is way too young for archery," Tony said.

Clint snorted. "Of course she's too young. I wasn't shooting a bow until I was at least two years old. But she's not too young to start learning about all the equipment."

"Absolutely not. No sharp objects around Stephy."

Thor hoisted the baby onto his shoulder. "Come with me, small one. We shall have many adventures exploring this great tower."

The baby started to wobble and Tony immediately rushed over to swoop Stephy to safety. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he demanded. "The baby's going to fall to her death."

"My father used to carry me so all the time," Thor argued.

"When you were three, probably, and you could actually hold on."

Thor frowned. "Now that you mention it, I was probably closer to three hundred of your years, yes."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you're joining Clint in baby boot camp."

"Fear not," Thor said. "Clint and I shall be the best pupils you have."

"You're the only pupils I have," Tony said. "Unless..." He eyed Bruce suspiciously. "Not planning on teaching the baby how to handle a Bunsen burner, are you?"

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Of course not. All she's getting from me is picture books."

"Excellent. Gold star for Bruce. And that means...and that means you're entitled to the rest of the chocolate truffles in the back of the pantry."

"Oh boy," Bruce said.

"No fair," Clint whined. "I didn't know there were still any left."

"I wanted you to think that," Tony said with a smirk. "All the better to bribe you with."

"So, does that mean you're going to start buying us all truffles for reading to the baby?"

"I shouldn't have to bribe you to spend time with the baby. But if it takes chocolate to get you to read the boring parenting and baby safety books, sure."

Clint did a fist bump. "Bring on the learning. I'm ready."

Steve was happy to see the team spending more time together again. Clint and Tony had been something like snarky best friends before the baby came along, and it was good to see them arguing about some trivial thing across the breakfast table again. But Steve was a little disappointed that Tony had taken back to disappearing into his lab every day after breakfast. He had gotten used to Tony's presence throughout the day and it felt so quiet without him.

Steve sighed and traced a fingertip over the refrigerator door. It looked like he was going to have to start bringing Tony food again.

"Looking for Tony?" Natasha questioned.

"No," Steve said. "I know where he is. Down in the lab."

She popped a raspberry into her mouth. "He's working on his curriculum."

"It's been three days already," Steve said. "And I thought he was just going to push some baby books off on them."

Natasha shook her head. "He wouldn't trust anybody else to know how to keep the baby safe, not even parenting experts. So he's doing it all himself."

"And how's that working out?"

She shrugged. "Ask Clint. He's got Tony's first lesson plan." She jerked her thumb towards the balcony.

Steve padded onto the balcony. Clint was sitting cross-legged on the floor, frowning intently at the paper in his hands. There were several other papers scattered all around him. If what Natasha had said was true and this was only the first installment of Tony's baby boot camp, he was going to end up teaching the others every single thing there was ever to know about babies.

Steve sat down on one of the deck chairs."Tough stuff?" he asked.

Clint snorted. "No. This is insulting to my intelligence."

Steve picked up one of the pages and skimmed the first couple of lines.

"Rule 98: No knives, arrows, or other sharp objects around the baby. (Clint, this means you!)

Rule 99: No guns, bullets, poisons, or other dangerous objects around the baby (Your gear is staying in your room, Clint)"

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "Individualized lesson plans. Tony's really put a lot of effort into this."

"Too much effort," Clint muttered. "No arrows for the baby. I got it the first time. No need to keep nattering on about it like I'm an idiot."

"I'm sure he isn't thinking about it that way. You know Tony. He's a smart guy, but sometimes he has all the social skills of a piece of wood."

Clint grinned and leaned back, stretching his shoulders with a pop. "I'll say. I get where's he's coming from, but who the fuck compiles a list of nine hundred rules of things not to do with the baby? I bet there's another couple hundred things I'll be required to do."

"Oh, absolutely."

Clint winced. "Hey, Tony. Got another batch of reading material for me?"

"Sure do. But I've also brought some motivation." He popped a truffle into Clint's mouth.

Clint's eyes lit up. "Bacon."

"That's right. Everything's better with bacon. Even chocolate."

Clint sighed happily. "You know me so well."

Tony settled down on the floor next to Clint. "That's right. And I also know you do better with a little hands-on demonstration, so, I made this." Tony slipped a small device out of his pocket. "It's programmed for rules 1 through 182."

Clint pressed a button and a holographic baby appeared in the air, giggling and kicking her feet. "So, this is a high-tech version of those baby things they make you deal with in high school."

"Pretty much," Tony said cheerfully. "But, with a few extra additions." He leaned in closer. "Show me rule 98."

The simulation changed to the baby grabbing for Clint's archery supplies and wailing as she sliced her finger on an arrow tip.

"Damn," Clint said.

"Just something to think about," Tony said cheerfully.

"Yeah." Clint's face creased with a frown as he glanced back at the list of rules. "So much to think about."

"I'll leave you to your studying then," Steve said. He rose and headed back into the Tower.

When he returned to the kitchen, Natasha was gone, but Thor was staring forlornly at a holographic display of a dead-eyed baby sprawled across the counter, whimpering quietly.

"I had not realized your young ones were so fragile," Thor said somberly. "It saddens me to think the child could die from something as harmless as a quick toss in the air."

"She's not made of glass," Steve said. "But the roughhousing will just have to wait a few years."

The last thing he wanted was for Tony's safety lectures to become so effective that Thor was going to give up interacting with the baby altogether.

"That is a shame," Thor said. "My favorite childhood games all involved athletic skill. And I'm afraid this child has not even mastered getting up on her own."

"Well, no," Steve admitted. "At her age, you basically just hold her and talk to her, give her a few toys to play with. She's not running around yet, but she'll be there before you know it."

"Ah, yes," Thor said. "I forget how quickly your people grow and age. Well, I shall have to simply tell her tales of all the adventures she will have when she gets older so she will have something to look forward to."

Steve grinned. "Now you're getting it."

From what Steve could see, baby boot camp looked like a success. After they had read the rules for being around the baby, Tony dragged the guys into the den for daily lessons on proper baby-holding technique and let them attempt to feed her under his close supervision.

And once Tony was actually allowing them to hold and play with the baby, everyone was a lot more enthusiastic about learning how to do things with her.

Thor spent long stretches of the afternoon walking around the Tower with the baby in his arms, pointing out interesting objects and explaining their uses. And then he would sit the baby down in the middle of the den and tell her epic tales of his exploits in battle back on Asgard.

The baby sat and listened with rapt attention even though she probably couldn't understand a word he was saying.

Clint spent most of his time with the baby placing toys just out of her reach in an attempt to get her crawling. At the moment, all it seemed to get the baby to do was fuss when she couldn't stretch her arms out to grab it, but in time the ploy would probably work.

In Steve's opinion, the best thing about the arrangement was that Tony was spending more time out of the lab and hanging around the den with everyone else.

The only problem was that when Steve wanted to sit on the couch and read, the den was already occupied.

Clint and Natasha were sitting in the two armchairs across from each other, reading the same spy thriller, Bruce was sprawled across the couch, fast asleep, and Tony was lying on the floor, making airplane sounds as he lifted the baby above his head.

She squealed with delight and kicked her feet.

"Looks like someone's having fun," Steve observed with a smile.

"Absolutely. You want to have a go?"

"Don't do it, Steve," Clint warned. "She barfed in my face yesterday."

Tony snorted. "I told you not to play with her right after she ate."

"I still think she did it on purpose."

"It's because she knows the sort of man you are," Natasha muttered as she turned a page in her book.

Clint huffed. "I'm awesome. I don't know why she hates me. She should be hating on all the villains we have to deal with. And Fury. Can we teach her to vomit on him instead?"

"And this is why the baby doesn't like you," Natasha said dryly. "I'm sure she can sense the irresponsibility oozing out of your pores."

While they argued, Tony sat up and tugged at Steve's hand. "She won't throw up on you, Steve," Tony said reassuringly. "She has good taste."

Somehow, Steve wasn't convinced that would be enough to keep him safe if the baby's stomach was upset, but he dutifully laid down on the ground and let Tony hand him the baby.

"Take her up and down a few times," Tony said. "Nice and easy. Nothing to it."

Steve lifted the baby up and then brought her down to press a kiss to her forehead. He was sure he wasn't lifting her as smoothly as Tony would have, but it didn't seem to matter. She laughed and patted a hand against his mouth every time he brought her back down for a kiss.

He smiled and cradled her against his chest. She really was such a happy baby. Alert, energetic, and completely content. He had spent so much time around her, but he hadn't really appreciated what a good baby she was. She was separated from her parents, thrown into a new environment with strange people, and she had just settled in without fear and screaming. Maybe she was simply too young to understand, but Steve liked to think that the baby enjoyed having them as her new family.

Tony rolled over and leaned his head against Steve's shoulder. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he whispered.

"So beautiful," Steve agreed. They were so close, it was easy to tilt his head down and kiss Tony's lips.

Tony was beaming when they pulled apart. "Looks like Stephy's got herself a daddy now."

"Fucking finally," Clint said.

"Language, Barton," Tony scolded. But he was still smiling, his eyes bright with happiness.


	8. Chapter 8

If Steve had expected a world-shattering revelation after their kiss, it never came. Instead, a feeling of rightness just settled over him. He had loved Tony for a long time and now he was finally acting on his feelings.

But most of his life wouldn't change. He would still go for his morning walk with Tony, eat meals with the team, and spend time playing with the baby. Life would go on pretty much the same as it always had, only better. He could already see Tony snuggling up with him during movie nights and holding his hand as they walked through the park. And it was going to be amazing.

Tony nuzzled against Steve. "I'm going down to the workshop for a few hours," he said quietly. "Make sure you put our baby to bed in an hour."

"Of course," Steve said. He kissed Tony's forehead. "Have fun."

He smiled as he cradled Stephy in his arms.

Our baby.

His heart warmed. He had never thought he'd be able to start a family here in the future, where he didn't belong. But he had his team now and in time, he'd have Tony as his mate. Tony wouldn't be able to bear him the children he had always wanted, but that didn't matter. They had Stephy for as long as time allowed, and when she went back to her parents, Steve would find another outlet for Tony's maternal instincts. Because Tony was far too wonderful of a mother to not let him have a child to love.

Steve dutifully put the baby to bed an hour later. She fussed a little more than he expected and only settled down when Natasha sang her a Russian lullaby. So maybe he didn't have a natural parenting instinct like Tony did, but that wasn't going to stop him.

He went to bed that night feeling optimistic about the future. Now that he knew Tony returned his feelings, it felt like nothing could go wrong again.

Steve was awakened by a wet warmth against his cheek. He made a face and waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the disturbance.

This earned him a chuckle and a weight settling across his chest.

Steve struggled to sit up."Okay, you guys, I'm tired and really not in the mood for-" The words died in his throat.

Tony was straddling his hips, dressed only in a tiny red thong.

Steve swallowed."Tony?"

Tony grinned. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Glad to see you're up. You don't want to sleep through this."

"Tony, what do you think you're doing?"

"Seducing you. Is it working?" Tony curled his hands over Steve's shoulders and leaned in.

Steve put a hand against Tony's chest and held him back. "You're not ready for this."

"What are you talking about?" Tony said with a laugh. "Do you know how many guys I've slept with on the first date? I'm a slut. I'm always ready."

"No, you're not," Steve said. "Whoever told you that was wrong."

Tony frowned. "But I really-"

"No. We're not having sex right now. We kissed for the first time just a few hours ago."

Tony blinked. "Oh, I see. Right. In your days, people didn't have sex on the first date." He brightened. "But if you think about it, we're way past the first date already. We've been living together for months now and all those walks together were sort of dates even if we didn't realize at the time. So, frankly, I'd say we're way overdue for a good romp."

Steve shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you? I want a relationship with you, Tony."

"I know," Tony said. "And the basis for a good relationship is good sex." He rolled his hips against Steve's.

Steve rolled them over and pinned Tony down against the bed. "I need you to listen to me," he said.

"This is good, too," Tony said cheerfully. "Go on, soldier. Ravish me with your-"

"We are not having sex yet," Steve hissed through his teeth. "Not until you stop thinking of yourself as a slut and stop thinking of sex as the only thing you can offer. I want you for you, not your body. And if I sleep with you now, you'll never believe that."

Tony stared at him wide-eyed. "You don't want to sleep with me?"

"I do. But not like this. Not until you're ready."

"But I am ready."

"You're not ready," Steve said firmly. "You can stay the night if you want, but we're not having sex."

"Okay," Tony said doubtfully. But he settled into bed beside Steve and snuggled up against him.

Steve stroked Tony's hair and drifted back to sleep.

He had thought that was the end of it, but the next morning Tony ambushed him as he was heading out the door for his run, under the deluded assumption that Steve just didn't want to have sex with him the night before because he was tired.

Tony took the second rejection a lot harder. He didn't say a word to Steve throughout the entire walk and when they got back home, Tony grabbed a muffin off the counter and went straight down to the workshop.

Clint arched an eyebrow. "Trouble in paradise already?"

Steve sighed and slumped down in his chair. "Tony thinks that sex is the basis of a good relationship."

"Well, yeah," Clint said. "A healthy sex life is important."

Steve shook his head."It's not that simple. There is so much more to a relationship than sex. And I have to prove it to him."

Clint hunched his shoulders. "I'm sure doing it your way will be better for Tony in the long run, but in the meantime, he's going to be very hurt and upset."

"I know," Steve said. "It's hard to see him upset. I wish he understood why I can't give in."

"You just have to give him a little bit to go on," Clint said. "After all, you can't do anything for him if he breaks up with you."

That was always a possibility. As well-meaning as he was, not having sex with Tony could very well drive him right back into the arms of those terrible alphas who saw Tony as little more than a warm body.

Steve didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about what it meant that Tony stayed down in his workshop with the baby all afternoon. And didn't want to think about what it meant that Tony had missed dinner.

He waited up for Tony till almost midnight, hopeful that he would stop brooding down in the workshop eventually and sneak into the kitchen for a snack, but Tony didn't show. With a heavy heart, Steve headed off to bed.

Tomorrow, he would have to corner Tony on their walk and explain things to him a little better.

When he pushed open the door to his room, there was Tony, lying sprawled across his bed in the same little red thong.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't going to work, Tony."

"Steve," Tony whined. "What's the big deal? Why won't you sleep with me?"

"Because I want our relationship to be about more than just sex. I want our first time to be-"

"We already had a first time. And it was great and I want to do it again."

Steve shook his head. "Do you really want sex this badly?"

"Yes," Tony said eagerly. The red thong quickly disappeared.

"Alright, then." Steve settled onto the bed and pulled Tony onto his lap. "I'm going to take real good care of you," he promised. "This is all about making you happy."

Tony groaned as Steve stroked him. "You don't have to do this. I'm already ready for-"

"Just relax," Steve said. "This is all about you right now."

Tony whimpered and arched up into him. "Feels so good," he murmured.

"That's it," Steve whispered in Tony's ear. "Just let it happen."

It wasn't long before Tony cried out his release.

Steve held him through the aftershocks, pressing gentle kisses against his shoulder blades.

Tony stayed snuggled in his arms for several minutes, but when he recovered enough to move, he stared at Steve like he was a troubling bit of math. "Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to make you feel good. Haven't you ever done this for any of your partners?"

"A couple times, yeah."

"And have they ever done anything for you?"

Tony furrowed his brow. "No."

"Well, I'm going to change that," Steve said firmly.

Tony's eyes flickered over his body. "Do you want me to-"

"No," Steve said. "I don't want you doing anything for me out of a sense of obligation."

"You're the weirdest alpha I've ever met," Tony said.

Steve decided to take that as a compliment. If all the alphas Tony knew were selfish jerks, he was proud to be nothing like them. The other alphas didn't get to have Tony sleeping beside them night after night. And that was their loss.

Steve was honored to have Tony willing to stay with him, willing to give his idea of romance a chance.

Some nights, Tony was even curled up in Steve's bed when he came up from the gym, but most nights, Tony wandered into bed shortly after midnight and just slipped in beside Steve. Thankfully, he had given up on the red thong and usually showed up in a t-shirt and boxers, which had to be far more comfortable to sleep in.

It would take a lot of time before Tony would be ready to accept him as his mate, but Steve was willing to wait. He could already see how much happier Tony was every morning snuggling with him in bed before they took the baby out. It was a good sign that Tony might finally be realizing how much better it was to be with someone who cared about him and looked after his needs.

Steve enjoyed having Tony in his bed as well. Tony was always so warm and cuddly. After his stint in the ice, Steve had an aversion to the cold. On colder nights, he was more likely to have nightmares. But with Tony wrapped securely around him or draped over his chest, Steve was never going to feel cold again.

It had become so routine to have Tony sleeping beside him, that Steve woke up in the middle of the night missing his presence.

He glanced at the clock. It was already two in the morning. If he didn't get Tony to bed pretty soon, he wouldn't get any sleep. Tony could swear up and down that he survived just fine pulling several days of all-nighters in a row, but Steve didn't like seeing the frazzled omega surviving on coffee. Sleep was much better for Tony.

Tony was down in his lab, hunched over his computer, muttering furiously as he scrolled through a wall of text onscreen.

"What are you working on?" Steve asked.

"Fury forwarded a couple e-mails to me from six women claiming to be Stephy's mother. And they're all, well, like this." He gestured to the screen.

Steve peered at the screen. Most of it looked like a long, misspelled diatribe about how the Avengers had teamed up with the Illuminati to steal her baby from her home using their thoughts and were now brainwashing the baby in an attempt to overthrow the government.

"Wow," Steve said.

"I know. Every time you go on TV, the crackpots come crawling out."

Steve squeezed his shoulders. "You're not going to be at this all night, are you? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

Tony pushed back his chair. "Yeah, you're right. I've read enough terrible conspiracy theories for one night."

"Fury shouldn't be making you read all that," Steve said as he ushered Tony into the elevator. "You know they're nuts, he knows they're nuts. End of story."

"I wish it was that easy." As the elevator doors opened, he made a beeline for Steve's bed, flopping across it with a grateful sigh. "All six of them are fucking whackjobs, but that doesn't prove they're not Stephy's mother."

"Then just make them take a DNA test."

"And what if Stephy is adopted, hmn? That's what they'll claim when the DNA test comes back negative."

"You'll think of something," Steve assured him. "You always will." He stroked the back of his hand over the omega gland at the base of Tony's neck. It responded only to the touch of an alpha, releasing positive hormones that would help him relax.

Tony jerked away from him. "Stop that," he snapped.

"I'm just trying to help you feel better," Steve said. "You're stressed out and-"

"You think sex is going to make me relax? Go to hell."

Steve frowned. "I didn't suggest you needed a handjob to relax. I'm just trying to do whatever you need right now."

"Don't give me that shit. It's never about what I need, is it?" Tony said scornfully. "It's always about whatever it takes to fuck me. I thought you were different, but you're just like all the other alphas, always up to the same stupid tricks. I'm not letting this happen again, so fuck off." He slammed the door shut on his way out.

Steve was horrified. How could Tony ever think he was trying to take advantage of him?

He had to apologize, to make Tony understand that he would never, ever, ever hurt him that way.

But the next morning, Tony was nowhere to be found. Steve waited in the park for an hour after his run, but Tony never showed up. He didn't show up for lunch either, even though Clint had made a batch of spaghetti, which was one of Tony's favorite foods.

By mid-afternoon, Steve was starting to be very concerned. He hoped that even if Tony was upset with him, he would at least confide in one of the others.

He finally cornered Natasha, Bruce, and Thor in the den. "Have any of you seen Tony today?" he asked.

Bruce shook his head. "He's been holed up in his lab all day. I tried to bring him lunch and he told me he wanted to be left alone."

"And he has refused all our efforts to see the child," Thor added as he started up the Wii.

Steve's heart sank. An omega who didn't trust the pack alpha could draw away from the rest of the pack, feeling unsafe and insecure with the very people who cared about him the most. It was hard to bring an omega back from that level of paranoia, especially one with a child.

"This is my fault," he said. "I was trying to help him relax and I made everything so much worse. He probably never wants to see my face again."

"You're not giving up on him," Natasha said sternly. "You haven't given up on Bucky."

"I know," Steve said. "But this was-"

"Not your fault." She motioned him closer. "Tony's been shaped by his past experiences," she said in a low voice. "And most of his experiences with alphas have been bad."

"I'm beginning to see that," Steve said. "But I don't understand why anybody would want to treat him like he's so worthless. He's Tony Stark, for crying out loud."

"And that's the problem. People see him as a status symbol, not a person. And some alphas take it personally when Tony won't sleep with them. So, they find other means of convincing him."

Steve shuddered.

"And those men are highly dishonorable," Thor said indignantly. "From what I know of your culture, omegas are meant to be cherished and protected by your alphas."

"In theory," Bruce said. "But they just don't make them like they used to anymore."

Natasha offered Steve a sad smile. "Trust me, Steve, it won't be easy. I swore off alphas when I jumped to SHIELD. After all that time sleeping with scum in exchange for information, they just weren't my type anymore. No offense to you, but I don't blame Tony for being a little uneasy around alphas now."

Steve shook his head. He had tried so hard to convince Tony he was nothing like the alphas of his past, and he had done the exact same thing they had all done to him. No wonder Tony was upset with him.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Natasha said. "We all know you're a good alpha. Probably one of the best ones out there. I told you to go after him because I know you'll be good for him. And deep down, Tony knows it, too. So, go find him and fix things."

With Natasha's support, Steve felt more confident going down to the workshop to see if Tony would be willing to talk things through.

He tried his code for the lab and the door remained shut. But he wasn't going to give up.

"Jarvis, let Tony know that I want to apologize to him. If he doesn't want to see me right now, that's fine. But I have to at least get a message to him."

There was a long silence and then the doors slid open.

Steve didn't see Tony at first, but after a moment looking around, he spotted him curled up on the floor in the corner, the baby cradled to his chest.

"Tony?" Steve said hesitantly. "Can we talk?"

Tony raised his head. "Hey, Steve," he said with a heavy sigh. "Are you here to break up with me?"

"No, of course not."

"Well, you should. You'd be better off without me."

"Never," Steve said. "You're a wonderful person, Tony. I'd never want to leave you."

Tony sighed. "Well, you must be delusional. Jarvis, secret playlist seven."

"Hoobastank, sir?"

The name alone made Steve want to smile. Hopefully, it would be a silly song that would cheer Tony up and get him out of this funk.

But Tony's mouth twisted into a frown."Yeah, sure. I probably deserve it."

Steve sighed. "This isn't a happy song, is it?"

"Nope," Tony said. "It's mopey omega music. I listened to "The Reason" over and over again after I broke up with Pepper."

"Pepper broke up with you. Don't blame yourself for that."

Tony hunched his shoulders. "I made her break up with me. I had to do it. She's been through a lot with me and I didn't want to see her miserable anymore."

The opening strains of the song filtered in through the speakers."I'm not a perfect person. There's many things I wish I didn't do."

"Don't do this to yourself," Steve pleaded. "You're so much better than you think you are."

Tony shook his head. "I'm better than I was before I met Pepper. She really helped guide me in the right direction. And all I did was bring her down. I was so grateful to have had her in my life, but I had to let her go."

Steve sighed. In the background, he could hear the sad lyrics lamenting all the pain the singer had caused and something about, "I have to say before I go."

Was this really the way Tony thought about himself? That he only caused pain and anguish to everyone and it was better if he left?

Tony settled the baby into the playpen. "You'd be better off without me too, sweatpea."

Steve had heard enough. He dropped to his knees in front of Tony and took his hand. "A reason to start over new," he sang along with the song. "And the reason is you."

"You can't," Tony said, a panicked note edging into his voice. "You can't do this. You're an alpha and-"

"I love you," Steve said. "It's been hard for me to adapt to this century and I couldn't have done it without you. You've given me a place to call home and the chance to have a family. Why would I ever want to leave you? I'd be honored to have you as a mate."

"No," Tony said. "You don't want that. You don't want to be stuck with me forever."

"I do," Steve said. "And I'll keep reminding you how much I love you until you believe me. Every time I go out on a mission, I want you to know that I'm coming back to you. There is no way you can push me away or convince me that you're not worth it. I don't care how long it takes. I'm in this relationship for the long haul."

"Okay," Tony said in a small voice. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Steve smiled and got to his feet, pulling Tony into a hug. Tony was giving him the chance to redeem himself and he wasn't going to waste it.


	9. Chapter 9

Steve spent the rest of the afternoon down in the lab with Tony. The omega seemed to have forgiven him, but he wasn't quite ready to face the others. Because Tony had somehow convinced himself that showing any moment of vulnerability would be seen as a sign of weakness that others would attack him for. It was sad that he felt that way, but the only thing Steve could do was be there for him until he felt ready to rejoin the others.

So like any good alpha, he brought dinner down to Tony in the lab and stayed to keep him company while Tony worked on one more project.

He hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until he woke up to a loud crash.

"Sorry," Tony said as he bent to retrieve the fallen section of metal piping. "But I've got a lot of work to to do today and I didn't really have time to wait for you to wake up."

Steve scrubbed at his face with one hand. "What time is it? Did you take the baby out for her walk already?"

"Nat and Clint have her right now. I needed a little more time for work. Since I spent all yesterday moping around down here, none of this shit got done."

"You weren't moping," Steve objected. "You had every right to want some alone time."

"Still," Tony said. "Nothing got done. But that's going to change today."

Steve frowned. "I didn't know you really had that much to do. I thought you were just vetting those women who claimed to be Stephy's mother."

Tony froze. "Oh shit. I forgot about that. Good thinking, Steve. I should be working on that first." He kicked a foot against his table, sending his desk chair hurtling over to the desk on the other side of the room.

"I don't want you in over your head," Steve said. "If you have a lot of things to do for SI, maybe someone else can read through the crazy e-mails."

Tony waved a hand. "We're past that already. All we have to do now is do some DNA testing and I know Bruce has some machinery in his lab." He frowned and began jabbing at his keyboard. "Only problem is he isn't answering my e-mails."

Steve sighed. "I don't think he's glued to his computer all day like you are. Why don't you try talking to him like a normal person?"

"Okay," Tony said. "We'll do it your way." He pressed the intercom button on his desk. "Hey, Bruce. Bruce. Brucey, baby, I know you're in there."

The other intercom clicked on. "Alright, alright," Bruce said with a heavy sigh. "Is this really so urgent that it has to be done at 7 a.m?"

"You sound sleepy," Tony said. "Maybe you should get to bed earlier."

"What do you want, Tony? Let's get this over with."

"Aww, Brucey. Don't be like that. You love the baby and want to help find her parents, don't you? Or, better yet, you want to help keep all the crazy ladies at bay, right?"

Bruce yawned. "There better be coffee."

"Oh, come on. You know me better than that. I don't do anything without coffee."

"Okay. I'll start setting things up."

Tony practically bounded upstairs to get the baby.

Steve smiled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Bruce. But you know how he gets."

"I'm used to it. And being bothered first thing in the morning is a small price to pay if it gets Tony out of the lab."

That was very true. Steve would gladly put up with the worst of Tony's recklessness every single day if it meant never seeing him distressed again.

Tony poked his head back into the lab. "What are you still doing in here? We're going down to Bruce's lab now. Bruce, seriously, you need to stop talking to Steve over the comm. You can talk face to face like normal people."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Would you really consider any of us normal people?"

Tony opened his mouth to protest and then closed it. "What a bunch of weirdos we live with," he murmured to the baby.

Steve rolled his eyes. "See you in a minute, Bruce." He clicked off the comm line and followed Tony down a level to Bruce's lab.

Bruce's lab was a lot smaller than Tony's,or maybe it just looked that way with the row of machinery lined up against the walls. Steve had thought Tony had a lot of equipment, but the machines Bruce was working with were all twice the size of the team washing machine. And with all the massive equipment, Steve almost didn't see Bruce sitting at a small lab bench, peering into a microscope.

"Hey," Tony said. "Don't be starting other things when you're supposed to do Stephy's DNA test."

"Tony," Steve said sternly. "That is not the way to talk to people who are volunteering to help you."

"It's alright," Bruce said. He stood up from the table with a stretch. "I was just looking a few things over while I was waiting for you to show up." He padded behind a row of machines that looked like giant microwaves and rolled out a tray of needles, gauze, and antiseptic. "If you'll just hold her still for me, I can get started."

Steve cringed inwardly. Poor girl. Blood draws were awful.

Tony clutched the baby tightly against his chest. "Is this really necessary? Can't you do one of those mouth swabs?"

Bruce shrugged. "If we're going to test her, might as well test everything. Just to make sure she doesn't have any medical conditions we're unaware of."

"Well, I guess that's probably a good idea," Tony said reluctantly. He sat down on the edge of the lab table and settled Stephy over his shoulder.

Stephy cried a little when the needle went in, but she settled down as Tony gently rubbed her back and murmured soothingly to her. Steve was impressed. She stayed pretty still until Bruce finished drawing the little vial of blood. She fussed again when he pulled the needle out, but by then it was all over. Tony wiggled a cotton ball up her arm to the blood draw site and baaed like a sheep as he pressed it down to stop the bleeding. The baby was all smiles again by the time Tony carted her back up the stairs for Clint and Natasha to feed her breakfast.

Bruce divided the blood into smaller containers and popped two of them into a little tray on the side of one of the microwave-looking machines. "Did Tony say if he had any samples for comparison?"

"Not sure," Steve said. "He had six women he needs to look at, but I'm not sure if he-"

"I'm back!" Tony announced loudly. He slid in next to Steve. "Did I miss anything?"

"Bruce was just wondering if you had any DNA samples from the women who claim to be Stephy's mother."

"Oh yeah, SHIELD swabbed them for me. Because I'm not letting any of those crazies anywhere near the Tower and the baby until we have proof of their ridiculous claims."

Bruce sighed. "So you don't have the samples with you."

"It's in the system," Tony said. "Check your e-mail."

Bruce brought up his computer and studied the screen for a long moment. "Okay," he said. "This works." He printed out the results of the SHIELD testing and slid them into the bottom tray of the microwave-like machine. "And now we see what happens," he said. He pressed a button in the center and the machine started humming.

Tony blinked. "So what happened?"

"It's analyzing the baby's DNA and comparing them with the samples from the six women. It shouldn't take long." And he settled back at his desk.

Fifteen minutes into the process, Tony was already restless. He hovered close to the machine, circling around it and staring at it intently as if the intensity of his want would somehow produce the results.

"This is taking forever," he complained. "Isn't there any way to speed this up?"

"Unless you'd like to build me a faster DNA sequencer, you'll just have to wait," Bruce said. He put another slide under the microscope.

"Don't give him any ideas," Steve said. "You know he'll do it."

"I know," Bruce said, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Somehow, Steve convinced Tony to get out of the lab for a few minutes to go check on the baby and do some work on whatever else he was supposed to be doing. But after those precious few minutes of quiet, Tony was back, bouncing on the balls of his feet and giving the machine a death glare.

Finally the DNA sequencer beeped loudly and spat out a few sheets of paper.

Tony snatched up the print-out. "It says...it says..." He peered at it intently. "It's saying something, but I'm not exactly sure yet."

Bruce sighed and held out his hand for the paper. He looked it over and nodded. "No familial match with any of the women."

"Well, we already knew that," Tony said with a snort. "Tell me you didn't make my baby suffer just to confirm what we already knew."

"She's a beta," Bruce said.

Tony brightened. "Perfect. We have two betas on the team. It's really the best orientation she could have. She'll have more role models that way."

"We also have two alphas," Bruce pointed out.

Tony shrugged. "Well, I guess that would have worked too. I'm just glad she's not an omega. Because I'd be her only role model and I sure as hell wouldn't be able to teach her how to be an omega."

Steve squeezed his eyes shut. It pained him to hear Tony talk about himself like he was a failure. So what if his heats were messed up? That didn't mean he couldn't still be a role model to another omega. Because as far as Steve was concerned, Tony was the perfect example of warm, maternal affection that was so characteristic of most omegas.

"Tony," Bruce said gently. "At this point, the only thing anybody needs to teach the baby is that we love her and are going to take care of her. And you're doing a wonderful job of that."

Tony averted his eyes. "Well, you know, I'm just covering the basics. The rest of you will have to model good behavior for her, because I'm nothing but a bad example of just about everything."

"Tony, stop," Steve said firmly. "That's all in the past. Right now, you're the perfect mother. And Stephy is lucky to have you."

"If you say so." Tony cleared his throat. "Any medical problems, Bruce?"

"Nothing that a blood test could pick up. Of course, blood tests don't give you the entire picture of a person's medical history, but they rule out-"

"Yeah, great," Tony said breezily. "My baby's a healthy beta. I'll have to tell her the good news." He disappeared into the elevator.

Steve sighed. "I wish Tony would believe us when we tell him he's doing fine."

"I know," Bruce said. "But I'm afraid all that Tony hears is us pointing out all his shortcomings."

"But-"

Bruce held up a hand. "From what I hear, Tony was raised like an alpha. Probably because his father saw that as Tony's only chance of surviving in the corporate world and one day taking over the business. And maybe he was right. Historically, omegas have been viewed as the gentlest and weakest orientation."

Steve nodded. Back in his day, most of the army recruiters had immediately disqualified him on the assumption that a scrawny boy like him had to be an omega and omegas were supposed to stay home where it was safe instead of going into battle. He had been so angry when no one had even questioned Bucky's status. If he had acted on that petty instinct to out Bucky and get him kicked off the squad, Bucky never would have suffered for all those years. But keeping Bucky out of the war just because he was an omega was silly. Bucky could fight just as well as any beta or alpha.

"Society is a lot more accepting of omegas in leadership roles now," Bruce said. "Everyone's well aware that Tony's an omega and no one would think of removing him as CEO. But the damage has already been done. Tony's come to view all omega traits as signs of weakness. To Tony, complimenting him on his skill with the baby must feel like a failure to his alpha facade."

Steve's shoulders sagged. How terrible it must be for Tony to feel so protective about his image all the time. And how he wished he could go back in time and shake some sense into Howard. There had been so many good betas fighting in the war. And a few omegas like Bucky that had snuck into the army despite the rules and more than proved their worth. Howard should have known better than to teach Tony that alpha was the only orientation worth anything.

"And it's a shame," Bruce said. "Because Tony has such strong omega instincts. He could be happy being a stay-at-home mom, working here in his lab so he could have more time to raise a family. But I'm sure he's talked himself into believing that after all the time spent pretending to be an alpha, he doesn't know how to be an omega anymore."

Steve squeezed his eyes shut. "So, he's convinced he's a failure on both fronts."

Bruce nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"So what do we do to convince him he's not?"

"I wish I knew," Bruce said. "But I'm not a psychologist."

Steve's mouth twisted wryly. "You could have fooled me."

Bruce smiled. "I can only tell you what I know. Tony may be a hard person to read, but after working with him for a year, I've gotten to understand him better."

"And by reading up on his past, apparently." God, there were so many things Steve would have done differently if he had known how much Tony was struggling.

"Hey," Bruce said. "I'm not telling you these things so you'll feel sorry for him. He wouldn't want that. I just want you to have a better appreciation of how strong he is, considering all he's gone through."

"I do appreciate it," Steve said. "He's one of the toughest people I know."

"And I have it on good authority that even tough guys eat breakfast," Bruce said with a smile. "So if you're going to get on Tony's good side, you might want to start there."

Of course. Tony could be hard to read sometimes, but after all the mornings having breakfast together, Steve knew exactly what Tony liked to eat.

"Thanks, Bruce," he said gratefully. He hurried towards the elevator.

Upstairs, he found Natasha and Tony in the den. Natasha was going through a stack of baby books while Tony cradled the baby on his lap.

Steve settled onto the couch next to Tony. "Did you tell them what we learned about Stephy?"

"She's a beta," Tony said.

"That's wonderful," Natasha said. "We know so many good betas. Clint and Bruce, of course. And Agent Hill."

Tony nodded. "Rhodey and Pepper are betas, too."

"So's Coulson," Clint called from the kitchen.

"You hear that, Stephy?" Tony said. "All those nice betas who can teach you how to be the best beta you can be. You're so lucky to have all of us. We're like one big family." Tony brightened and began rocking the baby on his lap. "I love you, you love me. We're a happy family. With a great-"

"You sing any more Barney songs and I will fucking end you, Stark," Clint shouted.

"You cuss in front of the baby again and I'll end you, Barton," Tony shouted back.

"Sorry, Stephy," Clint said in a more subdued tone.

Tony bopped the baby's head. "Uncle Clint is a knucklehead. Yes, he is. Yes, he is."

"Abababa." Stephy bounced on Tony's lap and flapped her hands.

Tony smiled. "Oh, you want to dance? I've got the perfect song for you." He took the baby's hands and started clapping them together."We are family. Get up everybody and sing."

She laughed and stuffed one of her hands in her mouth.

"You goose," Tony laughed. "That's not dancing, that's-" He looked chastened as his stomach growled. "Oh. That's right. We didn't have our second breakfast yet."

"First breakfast," Natasha corrected. "Coffee doesn't count."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm going to have breakfast and Stephy's going to have her morning snack. Happy now?"

Natasha just smiled.

"I'll take care of it," Steve said.

"Take care of what?"

"Breakfast. Feeding the baby and making you some toast and eggs."

Tony blinked. "Uh, okay." He handed the baby over. "Just give her a few spoonfuls of the sweet potato or banana. Those are her favorites."

"I know," Steve said. "And you like raspberry or peach jam."

"Yeah," Tony said quietly. He peered at Steve intently. "This isn't-you're not-"

"Nope," Steve said. "I'm not asking for anything in return. I just know you have a lot of work today so I want to make things easier on you."

Tony's shoulders slumped. "Right. Work." He looked longingly at the baby in Steve's arms.

"Go on," Natasha said. "We promised we'd look after Stephy while you did your work. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you get to play with her again." She waved one of the books. "Maybe you'll make it back in time for storytime."

Tony huffed. "Okay, I'm going, I'm going." He pointed a finger at Steve as he backed up towards the elevator. "This toast better come with a side of coffee."

"Of course," Steve said. "French roast."

"And it better be Fre-oh. I guess you got it covered." Tony spared him one last plaintive look and then the elevator doors slid shut.

"Well, that went well," Natasha said. "I thought he'd never leave."

Steve sighed and shifted the baby on his hip. "I don't really blame him for wanting to play with the baby all day instead, but he really needs to catch up on his work. One of the conditions for him keeping the baby was to stay on top of all the work he needs to do for SHIELD and SI and I know he hasn't been down in his lab much the past few weeks. He probably needs to spend several hours down there at the very least."

And wasn't that ironic, having to make Tony spend the day down in the lab.

"Must be rough," she said. "How many times do you think he's going to come up to check on the baby?"

"We taking bets?" Clint called, poking his head out of the kitchen.

Steve shook his head. "No more bets."

It was time they all stopped betting against Tony and started really helping him. Starting with breakfast.

Steve settled the baby in her high chair and reached for a jar of sweet potatoes. "According to Tony, this is one of your favorites, right?"

Stephy cooed and made grabby hands.

"Can I help?" Clint asked eagerly.

"Sure," Steve said. He handed the jar of baby food to Clint and popped a slice of toast into the toaster.

Clint scooped up a spoonful of sweet potatoes. "And breakfast is served."

The baby regarded him dubiously.

"Oh come on," he said. "You're not still mad at me about the toys, are you? I'm only trying to help, I swear. You'll thank me when you start crawling around on your own."

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "Do you need Tony's help?"

"Nope. I got this." Clint frowned at the baby. "If you're not going to eat it, maybe I should." He held the spoon up to his mouth.

Stephy fussed and reached out her hands.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." This time, when Clint offered the sweet potatoes to the baby, she opened her mouth and let him feed her.

Steve smiled. It was so good to see the rest of the team bonding with the baby and making her part of the pack. Tony was a fantastic mother, but as a beta, it was good for Stephy to have beta influence in her life.

"Better take the food down to Tony before he decides it's an excuse to wander up here and check things out," Clint advised.

Right. Steve set the toast on a plate and smeared a a healthy dollop of jam onto it. From what he remembered, Tony liked plenty of jam on his toast.

When he got down to the lab, Tony was poking at the Quinjet's exhaust system, but he hurried over to grab his breakfast.

"The baby get fed, too?" Tony asked after he swallowed his first mouthful of toast.

"Yes," Steve said. "Stop worrying. We'll handle it." He squeezed Tony's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't get overwhelmed. Take breaks when you need to, but try to get as much done today as you can."

"Why?" Tony asked. "What's the rush?"

Steve shrugged. "We might all have a picnic in the park tomorrow and you might like to bring the baby along. But if you don't have all your work done for your company and for Fury, you'll probably get a lot of calls demanding results. And I'd hate to have you working instead of enjoying the afternoon with us."

Tony rolled up his sleeves. "Oh, we'll see about that," he said. "This is all going to be done. Just you watch."

Steve smiled. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "I'll check in on you later," he promised, planting a kiss on Tony's forehead.

Tony gave him a thumb's up and stuffed the rest of the toast in his mouth.

Now that he had something to really work towards, Tony was soon hard at work. Steve came back down to the lab a little after noon to check in on him and bring him lunch and by that time, Tony was deeply engrossed in upgrading the Quinjet's fuel intake system. There were parts strewn all across the lab bench and Tony was frowning at them intently as he typed in a few commands on his computer. Tony acknowledged the sandwich Steve brought with a nod, but he kept right on working.

Tony wandered up from the lab a few times later in the afternoon in search of coffee and Steve sent him back down every time with a full mug and a kiss.

By dinner time, Tony still wasn't finished with his projects, so Steve went back downstairs with a plate of burritos and set them next to Tony's station.

"I think I'm close to a breakthrough," Tony said, eyes wide with excitement. "If this works, we could save a lot of money on jet fuel."

"Glad to hear it," Steve said. He patted Tony's shoulder. "You're doing great."

After dinner, Steve spent two hours working out in the gym and then called it an early night. He woke up to the familiar dip in the bed as Tony curled up beside him and rested his head on his chest. He smiled and stroked Tony's hair.

Everything was right with the world again.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Steve came down to the kitchen to find Tony humming to himself as he spread mustard on a slice of bread.

"Uh, Tony, what are you doing?" They were all doomed if Tony was so tired that he was making toast with mustard and jelly.

Tony snorted. "Making sandwiches for the picnic, of course." He froze. "We are still having a picnic, aren't we? Don't tell me I did all this work for nothing."

Steve laughed and kissed Tony's forehead. "Yes, we're still having our picnic. You earned it."

"Hell yes," Tony said proudly. "And it's going to be the greatest fucking picnic in the world. Because we have the best food."

"Speaking of food, did you have breakfast yet?"

"Sort of. I had coffee."

"Go make yourself something to eat. I'll finish these sandwiches."

"Make sure you put extra Swiss cheese on Clint's," Tony said. "And pickles on Natasha's."

Steve chuckled. "Yes, dear."

"Laugh all you want, but when Natasha comes for blood, I'll tell her you forgot the pickles."

"I won't forget," Steve said. He pulled the jar of dill pickles out of the fridge and began unscrewing the lid.

Tony dumped an egg into one skillet and a couple slices of bacon into another. "Want me to make you something for breakfast, too?"

"Nah, there's still some leftover muffins from the other day." Steve popped one of the mini muffins in his mouth and layered pickles across Natasha's sandwich.

The vent above the fridge opened and Clint somersaulted down into the kitchen."I smell bacon," he said excitedly.

Tony swatted his hand with a spatula. "Back off. Those are for sandwiches."

Clint brightened. "Turkey, bacon, and Swiss?"

"Only if you don't eat it all now."

Clint let out a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose I can make that sacrifice." He shuffled off to poke around in the pantry.

"How many should I make for Thor?" Steve asked.

Tony frowned. "Four...no, five. Five. With roast beef, salami, the mesquite turkey, pastrami, honey ham, bologna, cheddar, and jalapeno jack. And that nasty hot sauce that only he likes."

Steve was amazed that Tony had memorized that whole list of ingredients. It was a struggle for him to grab everything out of the fridge as Tony mentioned it.

"I'm having a BLT," Tony said. He flipped the egg onto a plate and pushed it to the side. "There's enough bacon left over if you want to make yourself a chicken club."

Steve blinked. "That's my favorite. How did you know?"

Tony shrugged. "Lucky guess, I suppose. Hey, can you see if we have any more hummus in the fridge? I'm going to make Bruce one of those chicken wrap sandwiches."

"You're getting way too good at this. You're not having Jarvis spy on us, are you?"

"The only spies in this place are the wonder twins," Tony said. "I've just seen you eating a chicken club before. No big deal."

Steve frowned. There was a lot more to it than that, but if Tony wanted to play dumb, he'd let it go for now. Maybe Tony wasn't even aware of how well he knew everyone's routine. At this point, it might be just an instinctive knowledge that he couldn't explain.

Clint wandered back out of the pantry with half a granola bar in his mouth. "We're bringing chips and shit, too, right?"

Tony snorted. "Since you were just in there stuffing your face, you should know whether we have chips or not."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'll let the sass slide since you're making me bacon."

"Damn right I am. So you can stop whining about wanting chips and grab them yourself."

Clint sighed and headed back into the pantry. "This sandwich better be fucking worth it."

Steve steered Tony away from the stove and plopped him down into a chair with his plate of eggs in front of him. He knew Tony would be a lot more reasonable once he had his breakfast.

"Thanks, babe," Tony said. He devoured the egg in two bites.

Before Tony could get up and harass Clint again, Steve put a piece of toast on his plate. "Keep eating. I'll finish getting everything ready."

Of course, Steve couldn't keep Tony out of the action for too long. The toast was gone almost as quickly as the eggs and then Tony was back out of his seat rummaging around in the fridge for veggies for Bruce's sandwich. But at least he seemed to be in a better mood now that he had food in his stomach.

With all of Tony's energetic bustling, the sandwiches were made up and stuck in the fridge by the time the rest of the team came down for breakfast.

The plan was to head to the park a little after ten so they could get in a few hours playing catch and enjoying nature before lunch, maybe an hour or so afterward, and then head home. But by nine, Tony was getting restless, and since everyone had already had breakfast anyway, Steve figured it was pointless to wait any longer.

Tony dumped a bag of ice into a large cooler and then layered in water bottles, cans of soda, iced coffee, and the sandwiches. In one large shopping bag, he dumped granola bars, chips, apples, bananas, and cookies. In another bag, he gathered up all the soccer balls, frisbees, and tennis balls that had been stowed in the sports closet. And then there was the diaper bag filled with supplies for Stephy, a picnic blanket, and a couple mesh folding chairs.

Steve shook his head as he looked at the mass of supplies piled by the door. "It looks like we're going on a three-week roadtrip instead of a picnic."

"The food is all going to be gone by the end of the afternoon," Tony said. "Trust me."

"I trust you," Steve said. "But this is still a lot of stuff." He didn't remember picnics being this complicated back in his day.

"There's a lot of us," Tony said. "Therefore, a lot of stuff. So grab a couple bags, muscles. That means you, too, Thor. You're going to be eating half of this shit, so you better carry half of it."

Everyone began grabbing bags and hoisting them on their shoulders. By the time they were ready to go, Tony was back downstairs with Stephy, dressed in a red sundress with black polka dots.

"Dude, you have to put a green hat on her," Clint said. "She'll look just like a little watermelon."

"She doesn't like wearing hats," Tony said. "I tried to put a little bow on her the other day and she just yanked it off."

"She doesn't like sunglasses either," Clint said. "Or at least she doesn't like when I wear them."

"Or maybe she just doesn't like you," Natasha said.

"She will," Clint said. "I have my ways."

"Less talking, more walking," Tony said. He propped open the front door with a hip and motioned everyone through.

Steve was a little amused by how eager Tony was for this picnic. Sure, the two of them walked around the park almost every morning, but Steve hadn't thought Tony liked being outdoors all that much. But if a picnic made Tony happy, then he was going to get his picnic. And it would be good for the rest of the team to have a chance to relax and spend time together. The team needed to bond together more outside of battles to form more familial pack bonds. And there was no better family-bonding activity than a picnic.

Tony led the way, the baby strapped to his back, and a bag in each hand. There were a couple of other small family groups scattered throughout the park, but Tony skirted around them until he found a grassy area close to a large shade tree. Steve couldn't have picked a better spot himself.

Once Tony spread out the picnic blanket, he put the baby down on her tummy with one of the frisbees in front of her so she'd have something to keep her occupied. And then he threw himself into the rest of the preparations, either not hearing, or more likely, ignoring Steve's repeated attempts to tell him to sit down and let the rest of them finish up.

In the end, Steve had to drag Tony down onto the blanket while Bruce and Clint finished setting up the rest of the chairs.

"I can do that, you know," Tony said. "My workshop might be a mess most of the time, but I do know how to organize things."

"I know," Steve said. "But you made the sandwiches and packed everything up. And if we don't stop you, you'll probably try and pack everything up at the end of the day. So just sit back and enjoy for a little bit. You've earned it."

Tony reluctantly settled down on the blanket and Steve lay down beside him. "Is there a reason you all wanted to have a picnic or was it just another excuse to get me out of the house? Not that I mind, either way."

Natasha took a sip from her water bottle. "Well, we just thought you might like to do something to celebrate the baby being with us for a whole month."

"Wow," Tony said. "Has it really been a month already?" He reached out to bop the baby's head. "Can you believe it, Stephy?"

The baby squealed and played with the hem of her dress.

Tony smiled. "Exciting, isn't it? If you would let me put a party hat on you, then we could really celebrate." He rolled onto his back and settled the baby on top of his chest. "But we know how to have a good time anyway."

Stephy giggled and squirmed as Tony peppered her with kisses.

"I love that you guys wanted to celebrate the baby," Tony said. "And I do appreciate it. But if I knew this was supposed to be a party, I would have gotten a cake for her."

"I don't think she's ready for cake yet," Steve said.

"No, you're probably right. But she will be soon." Tony smiled fondly as he stroked a wispy tendril of the baby's hair. "She's getting so big. Soon she's going to be crawling and walking and eating Cheerios and drinking out of juice boxes."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Steve said.

Tony sighed. "I know, I know. If the baby's parents come for her, I won't get to see any of that. But it's been a month. You'd think they would have shown up by now."

"You'd think," Steve agreed.

"Don't get him all worked up," Natasha said. "He's insufferable when he starts moping."

"I am not," Tony said indignantly. He tossed a tennis ball at her.

She caught it and threw it right back, bouncing it off the top of Tony's head.

"Oh, now you're gonna get it," Tony said. "Honey, get the baby to safety. Mama's gonna go to war."

"Easy, easy," Steve said. He shot Natasha a look. "Can we all get along for one afternoon?"

She smiled serenely. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I know we can have fun without killing each other," Steve said firmly. "Just look around you. There's so much going on in a park."

"Absolutely," Tony said. "Fruit, sticks, leaves, bugs, squirrels, dogs, women in jogging pants. All sorts of fun things."

"So, do I have permission to hit him now?" Natasha asked.

Steve heaved a sigh. "Go ahead."

Tony yelped as she pelted him with tennis balls. "Take it easy. Jesus. What happened to the whole not murdering each other thing?"

"I'll save you, buddy," Clint declared. He deflected one of the tennis balls back at Natasha with a frisbee.

"Nice," Tony said. "But saving me is supposed to be Steve's job."

Steve laughed at the pout in Tony's voice and pulled him into a hug. "So, women in jogging pants, huh? What about men?"

Tony licked his lips. "Yeah, you'd look pretty hot in tight pants, too."

"Let's keep it clean, kids," Natasha said. "Think of the baby."

Tony snorted. "Oh sure, we're going to traumatize the baby with our cuddling. Because it's so much worse than subjecting the baby to your violence."

"She'll be fine," Steve said. "Nobody is going to traumatize her"

Stephy had gotten into the frisbees and was happily drooling all over the rims and banging them together, completely oblivious to everything around her. It was a good thing Tony had brought so many. The baby was going to have no shortage of things to play with.

Tony cooed over the baby, his brief feud with Natasha totally forgotten.

Now that the obligatory squabbling seemed to be out of everyone's system, Steve managed to coax everyone into playing a few simple games together. A relay race while balancing a cup of water on their heads, tag, and a quick game of keep away.

In the end, everyone was all smiles when they collapsed back on the picnic blanket for a break.

Tony stretched out and took a big gulp of his iced coffee. "I feel like I've somehow been tricked into doing one of Steve's training exercises, and liking it."

Clint snorted. "If this is all it takes to wear you out, you're really out of shape. Maybe you should let Steve train you."

"Absolutely not," Tony said. "My body is a finely tuned machine. Take this orange, for example."

"We are not throwing fruit at Clint," Steve said. He stuffed half of a sandwich into Tony's mouth.

Tony chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "Wow, that is good." He reached for the other half of his sandwich. "Whoever made these things deserve a medal. Oh wait, that was me."

Steve swatted him upside the head, but as he dug into his own sandwich, he had to admit Tony had a point. He'd eaten plenty of sandwiches in his months in the Tower, but this was probably the best sandwich he had ever eaten. It wasn't quite medal-worthy, but boy was it good.

After lunch, the team drifted apart again. Clint and Bruce were attempting to teach Thor how to play catch and Natasha stretched out on a lounge chair to get some sun. Steve saw no reason why he and Tony shouldn't be able to go off and do something too.

"Hey, Tony, you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure. Let me grab Stephy." Tony strapped the baby back into the carrier and settled her securely against his chest. "She's due for a nap in a little bit, but a walk will probably settle her down."

He was probably right. It wasn't much different than pushing the baby around in the stroller every morning. And Stephy had certainly napped her way through most of those walks. Being cuddled against Tony's chest would probably be even more relaxing to the baby.

They agreed on one lap around the central park facilities, skirting the bathrooms and the picnic benches and then a loop around the playground before they headed back to the blanket. It seemed like the perfect route. It would only take about twenty minutes to walk, but there would be plenty of things for Stephy to see along the way.

Tony had his phone out, set to an app that identified any rock, tree, or flower he snapped a picture of. Even in the more developed section of the park, there was still plenty of wildlife for Tony to point out to the baby. And the baby was learning all about architecture as Tony let her feel the difference between a metal pole and a wooden bench.

As they made the loop towards the playground, Tony could point out all the colors of the jungle gym and let the baby watch a bird land on top of the swing set.

"Guh," Stephy said, pointing upwards at a neon green kite.

"Close, but it's not actually a bird," Tony said. "People make kites to look like all sorts of things. If you're still with us when you get older, we'll make one ourselves."

Steve squeezed Tony's shoulder comfortingly. It had to be so hard for Tony to cope with the uncertainty of the situation. But he was doing so well making the baby comfortable with them.

Tony cleared his throat. "Who needs kites anyway? Come on, Stephy, let's see if I can find you another real bird." He hurried on ahead.

On the home stretch, they passed an old woman sitting on a park bench. She smiled at them. "It's so good to see young people out enjoying the sunshine."

Tony made a show of looking around as if he wasn't sure who she was talking to and Steve elbowed him in the side.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he said. "Nice day out, isn't it?"

"A very nice day," she agreed. "Perfect for taking the little one out for a stroll."

Tony beamed and scooted closer. "Oh yes. Stephy loves going for walks in the park. We try to take her out almost every day."

"What a lovely idea," the woman said. She waved at the baby. "And what a beautiful little girl. She looks just like her daddy."

Tony grinned. "She does, doesn't she?"

Steve rolled his eyes. There were some battles he just wasn't going to win.

"Is she your first child?"

"Yep," Tony said proudly.

The woman smiled. "Ah, I remember those days. The first time I held a baby in my arms felt so magical. I didn't really know what I was doing until I had my second child, but there was something about that first baby, and figuring everything out as you go. There's nothing more exciting than seeing your baby blossom right in front of you. Just keep doing what you're doing, my dears, and it'll be the most rewarding thing in the world."

Tony grinned from ear to ear. "You hear that, Stephy?"

Stephy whined and grabbed hold of the front of Tony's shirt.

"Oww," he said. "Let go, baby. Mommy wants his skin back." He gently pried her hands off.

"There is a family restroom up ahead if you need to nurse her or change her," the woman said.

"Thanks, but she's just ready for a nap." Tony bounced the baby a little. "Someone was a little too excited about seeing all the birds fly by and didn't want to sleep."

The woman chuckled. "There's no end to excitement for a little one here. Good luck."

They said goodbye to the old woman and continued back towards their picnic site at a slightly faster clip because being around a fussing baby was not fun for anyone. But Tony was lagging behind and when Steve turned around to check on him, Tony was rubbing his chest with a pained expression.

Steve sighed. "The baby didn't pinch you that hard, did she?"

"Nah, I think I pulled a muscle doing one of your silly exercises." Tony grimaced and shifted his weight to one side. "And toting Stephy around probably isn't helping."

"I'll carry her for a bit," Steve offered.

The baby sling didn't fit him as well as it fit Tony so he had to settle for just carrying her in his arms. Stephy didn't seem thrilled with the change. Her wailing intensified.

"Oh, I know," Tony said soothingly. "We're almost there."

But when they got back to the picnic site, nobody was sitting by the blanket. Instead, everyone was gathered a few yards away around a sapling that looked like it had been snapped in half.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Tony demanded.

"That's what I'd like to know," Clint said. "How the hell do you manage to cut down a tree with a plastic frisbee?"

"I am truly sorry, my friends," Thor said. "I did not mean to throw it that hard."

Tony doubled over laughing. "Oh my god. I can't take you guys anywhere."

"Fear not," Thor said. "I shall make things right with the groundskeeper." He trudged off in the direction of the restroom, loudly calling for the groundskeeper. Clint and Natasha hurried after him and steered him in the direction of one of the maintenance workers.

"I'm sorry we always do this to you," Steve said. He knew full well that Tony was responsible for paying for everything that got destroyed when one of the Avengers got a little too rowdy.

Tony shrugged. "It's just one tree. Probably not more than a couple hundred dollars to replace. My bank account will survive."

"You shouldn't have to pay for the rest of us," Steve said. "It's not fair that you have to take the hit when we mess up."

"Life isn't fair," Tony said with a rueful smile. "But don't worry about it, Steve. I don't mind doing things for the good of the pack. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get the baby to stop crying for the good of the pack." He patted Steve's shoulder and swooped the baby out of his arms.

Steve followed him back to the blanket and watched as Tony rocked Stephy and sang lullabies to her. The baby wasn't screaming, just whimpering, but Steve was pretty sure if she didn't get some sleep soon, she was really going to start crying.

Tony finally stretched out across the blanket with Stephy next to him. "Look, Mommy's going to take a nap, too. I'm closing my eyes and going right to sleep." He pretended to snore.

Stephy stared at him with a furrowed brow. She clearly wasn't buying his act, but at least she had stopped crying.

Tony yawned and rolled onto his side, curling closer to the baby. "Such a nice warm day. Perfect for relaxing and being lazy."

The baby whimpered, but her eyelids were already drooping.

Tony opened one eye. "Is it working?" he whispered.

Steve smiled. "Looks like it."

"Good. Let me know when she's asleep."

Steve watched as the baby went through stages of yawning, blinking, and rubbing at her eyes. Tony stayed still the entire time, eyes shut, breathing quietly like he was asleep. And eventually, the baby closed her eyes, too.

"I think she's asleep now," Steve said quietly.

Tony didn't answer.

"Tony?" He gently prodded his shoulder.

The genius only snuffled and burrowed further into the blankets.

So, Tony had fallen asleep, too. But a nap would probably be good for him. Especially if he really was injured. Tony didn't like to stop working when he was hurt, but he healed so much faster when he was forced to take it easy. So Steve was going to let Tony rest as long as possible. And when they got back to the Tower, he was going to sit Tony down with an ice pack and a movie and hopefully keep him from overexerting himself until he healed.

The baby slept for another hour and then woke up crying because she needed her diaper changed. Steve was a little disappointed to see Tony's nap ending so soon, but he did love seeing Tony sleepily cuddling her after she was changed. He took full advantage of Tony's drowsiness, pulling him into his arms and coaxing him back to sleep with little effort.

Bruce and Natasha were perfectly willing to look after the baby for two hours until Tony was fully awake.

"Jeez," Tony muttered, his voice still husky with sleep. "That was a really long nap."

"Well, you needed the rest," Steve said.

As much as Tony liked to brag about functioning for days without sleep, Steve knew Tony couldn't go on indefinitely. He had done a lot of hard work yesterday and although Tony had had fun with the picnic, he had done a lot of hard work getting everything ready. So Steve wasn't actually surprised that he had strained himself. It was a good thing Tony had gotten in the habit of coming to bed every night or he would have been in even worse shape.

"So, all I've done today is sleep and eat. Such a productive day. Remind me why I came all the way to the park to do things I could have done at home."

"That's not all you've done, silly. I think you're forgetting something."

"Oh, yeah. Getting injured. How could I forget that?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "I meant walking with the baby. I know she loved exploring the park. Well, right up until she got tired."

"And you've accomplished something else," Natasha said with a faint smile. She held out her phone so they could all see the text from Fury that said, "This is going to be the only time I say this, but Stark's doing a good job today."

"What is he talking about?" Tony said. "I didn't even do anything today."

Clint snorted. "Exactly."

Natasha held up a hand before Clint and Tony could start squabbling. "There's an attachment."

Steve stared at the attached article from some gossip website. There were several pictures of him and Tony with the baby at various points along their walk. He didn't know how the site had gotten those pictures since he hadn't seen any paparazzi, but the sneaky picture-taking was preferable to the mob ambush.

"This is going to be really good publicity," Natasha said. "The baby looks so happy in all the pictures, Tony looks involved, and Steve looks supportive. One big happy family."

Tony beamed.

Steve considered the day worth it, just so Tony could have that rare bit of praise from Fury. Tony might not believe the team when they told him he was doing great with the baby, but he would definitely believe Fury.

Tony was in high spirits as they made their way back to the Tower. He claimed his chest was still aching, but it seemed like he was in too good of a mood to let the pain effect him.

Back at the Tower, Clint dragged Thor into the den for some Wii games. "If you can throw hard enough to cut down a tree, this should be a piece of cake for you."

"I can't wait to see what he can manage to break playing Wii," Natasha muttered.

Before Tony could follow the rest of the team into the den, Steve pulled him aside into the kitchen. "You need to ice your muscles," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said dismissively. He shifted the baby on his hip as Stephy squirmed and reached for the counter. "Kinda busy here, Steve."

"It's not going to get any better if you ignore it."

"It's no big deal. Just gotta avoid any heavy lifting for a day and I'll be fine."

"You really need to start looking after yourself like you take care of everyone else."

"And you need to-"

Stephy wailed.

Tony froze, his eyes wide.

"Tony?" Steve asked gently. "Are you okay?"

"Just...just take her for a second." Tony thrust the baby into Steve's arms and headed down the hallway. "Jarvis, full body scan. Right now."

"Tony!" Steve said with alarm.

He hurried after him, but the genius was running now, flying down the stairs to the lab. Before he could catch up, the lab doors slid shut and the blackout curtains came down.

Steve sank slowly to the floor. He had no idea what was going on. And until he did, he was just going to wait outside the lab.

The baby whimpered.

"He's going to be okay," Steve said. "Everything's fine."

He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or the baby.


	11. Chapter 11

Only a few minutes had passed, but it felt like hours later when the lab doors finally slid open.

Steve immediately got to his feet, shifting the fussing baby in his arms. "Tony, are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

"I don't know." Tony frowned. "It's impossible, but according to Jarvis, I'm lactating."

Steve sagged with relief. "Oh, Tony, that's great news."

Tony shook his head. "It just means my hormones are even more messed up than I thought. Random heats, spontaneous lactation. This isn't normal."

Steve put a hand on Tony' shoulder and squeezed firmly. "You need to stop thinking you're broken. Because you're not. You're a beautiful omega with strong maternal instincts. And because of how well you've bonded with the baby, your body's starting to consider her your own."

"You're really a glass half full kind of guy, aren't you?"

"I try," Steve said. "I'd like to believe that no matter how bad things look at the time, there's still the chance for a happy ending. If we fight hard enough, we can make a difference in the world for the better."

Tony shook his head. "I don't know how you can keep telling yourself that. Just about everyone you grew up with is dead, except for Bucky. And Bucky's been tortured and brainwashed. I don't see how you can still be optimistic."

"Bucky may never be the same person he was in my day," Steve acknowledged. "But he's not the same person he was when Hydra had him. And that's what really matters. I'm not giving up on him, Tony, and I'm not giving up on you either."

Tony sagged into his arms. "I want to live in your world. It sounds so much better than mine."

"It's the same world, Tony." He pressed the baby into Tony's arms. "Just look at her. Doesn't she make you feel hopeful for the future?"

And of course, that was the moment Stephy started crying in earnest.

Tony flinched. "I am definitely going to have to get used to this feeling."

"What feeling?"

Tony lifted up one side of his shirt with his free hand so Steve could see the little trickle of milk down his chest. "I thought I was bleeding at first," Tony confessed. "But you're right, lactating is a relief, considering the other possibilities."

"Absolutely," Steve said. "Once you relieve some of that pressure by feeding her, your chest will stop hurting. It's the easiest fix."

"Easy, eh?" Tony said. He looked down at his chest and then at the baby. "Then you tell me how I'm supposed to go about this."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You're a genius, Tony. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Okay, then." Tony pulled his shirt up to his neck and held it in place with his chin. "Alright, Stephy. Take your pick."

The baby looked at Tony skeptically.

"Don't look at me like that. I've never nursed before. So, I'm sorry if this isn't what you're used to."

"That's right," Steve said. "She's probably not used to nursing either. With all the nannies she has, she's probably been bottle-fed all along."

Tony clasped her to his chest. "Oh, you poor baby. Momma's going to take much better care of you."

Stephy squirmed a little and latched on to Tony's right nipple.

Tony twitched. "Oh god, this is the weirdest thing."

"Does it hurt?"

"No, it's just...difficult to explain."

It couldn't be that bad, Steve figured. The tense, startled expression was fading from Tony's face as the baby suckled.

Tony leaned back against the lab bench with a contented sigh. "Oh yeah, definitely not as sore anymore. But I'll be pissed if my chest starts hurting again before Stephy needs dinner."

"I doubt it," Steve said. "Your body produces way more than you need at first, but as long as you keep breastfeeding, everything will normalize."

"Oh, I will," Tony said. "Anything to help normalize me."

Steve frowned at the implication in Tony's words. After all this, Tony still didn't consider himself a normal omega?

He squeezed Tony's shoulder. "You don't need any help. You've got this."

Tony flashed him a sheepish smile. "Not really. I just read every single parenting article I could find that first night."

Steve nodded slowly, remembering how easily Tony could become an expert in any topic he set his mind to. "So, you had to do a little research. Nobody knows everything when they first start out. Remember that nice woman in the park? She didn't know what she was doing either. So, you checked some parenting sites and now you know."

"Except for this whole breastfeeding thing," Tony said. "I had no idea this was coming and I didn't read a single thing on what to do."

"But look at you. You're doing just fine."

"For now," Tony said. His eyes skittered over to his computer. "I should look up how often I'm supposed to breastfeed her."

Steve sighed. "Tony."

"No, I'm serious." Tony stepped gingerly over to the computer and the baby continued nursing obliviously. "I think the body metabolizes everything differently. And I better check if making the switch all of a sudden is going to cause any problems. I want to know what to look for."

"Tony," Steve said gently. "Someone once told me that even the best plans have to be adapted in the heat of the moment."

"I know, I know. But I want to be prepared."

"You can't prepare for everything, Tony. And it won't make you any less of a perfect mother if something goes wrong. It just makes you human."

Tony sank down into his chair with a heavy sigh. "I'll keep that in mind."

Steve shook his head as he trudged back up the stairs. There was no reasoning with Tony when he was like this. He'd just have to give him a little time to work it out himself.

Tony didn't come up for dinner and when asked, Jarvis informed Steve that he was practicing holds with the baby.

Of course. Tony probably thought he could learn everything there was to know about breastfeeding in a single night. Just like he had with thermonuclear physics.

But eventually he'd realize that no one could possibly know everything. People had been talking about child rearing techniques for thousands upon thousands of years and still nobody had all the answers. Even Tony, genius as he was, couldn't hope to figure everything out. Steve knew Tony was a fantastic mother. He had all the right instincts and all the right information. But even he was going to make a mistake now and then.

Steve just hoped the realization wasn't going to consume him.

After dinner, he crawled into bed with his tablet and asked Jarvis for a reading recommendation. Normally, Jarvis would pull him a dissertation from a historian, which had the dual benefits of helping him learn about the time periods that he had missed and getting him to doze off on the nights he had trouble sleeping. But tonight, it was a peer-reviewed article from social scientists on trust issues in mistreated omegas.

Steve sighed. "I'm making a mess of things, aren't I?"

The article vanished from his tablet. "Apologies, Captain Rogers. I am not implying that you are doing anything wrong with Sir. I merely thought it would be comforting to know you are not alone in this endeavor."

"You're right, Jarvis. I'm sorry." He motioned for the AI to bring the article back up.

The article wasn't going to be able to tell him everything about fixing Tony's trust issues because nobody was ever going to know all of Tony's circumstances, but it would be good reference material. And it definitely helped to know he wasn't the only one fighting to love an omega that considered himself unlovable.

At midnight, the bed dipped as Tony crawled in beside him.

"Everything okay?" Steve asked. He carefully slipped the tablet under his pillow.

"No," Tony said miserably.

Steve wrapped his arms around him. "Want to tell me about it?"

Tony sighed. "I had another...episode."

"Panic attack," Steve said. He'd heard about Tony's difficulties after the Battle of New York.

"Yeah." Tony shifted uncomfortably. "I was playing peek-a-boo with the baby of all things. And it all came back. The darkness, not being able to see a damn thing. I freaked out. And that freaked the baby out."

"Oh, Tony," Steve said sympathetically. "The baby will be fine. Babies are so resilient."

"Which is good. But I'm not fine. I'm so fucking broken."

Steve stroked Tony's back. "You're not broken."

He didn't know how many times it would take before Tony would start to believe him. Nothing he was doing seemed to make any difference. No matter how many times he stroked squeezed Tony's shoulders and tried to be understanding, Tony wasn't feeling any better about himself. If he could touch Tony's gland while he told him all these things, Tony might be more receptive, but he didn't have that option.

Tony shook his head sadly. "I see it on your face. I'm so broken that you can't even comfort me properly. What good is an omega that can't trust their alpha to look after them when they need reassurance?"

"It's not your fault," Steve said. "You can't blame yourself for all those alphas taking advantage of you."

"It is my fault. I love you and that should be enough to keep me from flipping out on you and accusing you of trying to get in my pants."

Steve sighed. "We've already gone over this, Tony. I'm not offended. It was just an instinctive reaction."

"But you deserve better than that after all you've done for me. I wish I was a normal omega so you didn't have such a hard time."

"You can't do this for me," Steve said. "You have to want it for yourself."

"I do," Tony assured him. "I'm tired of being broken. So if you know a way to fix me and you're not telling me, there's going to be hell to pay."

"Well," Steve said hesitantly. "It's possible that with time and actively telling yourself that I'm not a threat, you won't have such a negative reaction. I don't think you'll ever forget what those alphas did to you, but you might be able to train yourself to tolerate touches from people you trust."

"Awesome," Tony said. "Let's do this." He tipped his head to one side, exposing his neck.

"It's not going to work right away," Steve cautioned.

"I know. But the sooner we start this, the sooner I'll be cured." He flashed Steve a nervous smile. "I'll try really hard not to flip out again, but don't take it personally."

"I won't," Steve said. "Now just try to relax." He slowly slid his thumb over Tony's gland.

Tony's whole body went rigid. His breathing was shallow and his eyes were wide with panic as they darted across the room. This was the same way Bucky had looked when he first brought him to the Tower, utterly terrified of the rest of the Avengers and bracing himself for a blow that would never come. Steve had hated seeing the look on Bucky's face and he hated seeing it on Tony's.

Tony gasped out a breath as Steve took his thumb off the gland.

Steve gathered the shuddering omega into his arms and kissed every inch of Tony's face he could find.

"I will never hurt you," he said fiercely. "Never."

"I know. But it didn't help." Tony curled his hand into a fist. "Damn it. Why can't I trust you?"

"It'll take time, Tony. And the more I touch you without hurting you, the more ammunition you'll have against the panic."

"Ammo," Tony said bitterly. "I'm at war with myself."

"And you're winning."

Tony snorted derisively.

Steve cupped Tony's face in his hands. "Look at me. You're not a failure because this didn't work the first time. And it doesn't mean you don't love me. I know you do. The fact that you're willing to put yourself in such a vulnerable position speaks volumes, Tony. You're strong, you're brave, and you're stubborn. I know you, of all people, will find a way through this."

Tony's smile was small, but it was genuine.

"You've had a rough night," he said gently. "So you should get some rest and try not to think about this too much. But we will keep trying."

"Keep on trying till we run out of cake," Tony murmured.

Steve frowned at him. Tony looked a little tired, but he didn't seem that far gone already.

Tony waved a hand. "Never mind. You don't get the reference."

"Ah."

"Fun game," Tony said. He stifled a yawn. "At least I think it was. I burned through the whole thing with Rhodey one night when we were really, really drunk." His head dropped down onto Steve's chest as he began singing under his breath. "But there's no use crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake. And the science gets done and you make a neat..." He trailed off with a snore.

Steve cradled Tony gently against his chest and kissed his forehead. Tony might have trust issues, but the fact that he was comfortable sleeping beside him every night spoke volumes.

"Jarvis, can I see that article again?" he whispered quietly.

"Of course, Captain."

Steve stared at the article until his eyes burned and all the words blurred together.

He woke up just a few hours later. Tony was still sleeping so he carefully untangled himself from the genius' cuddly embrace. He couldn't bear to wake him when he looked so peaceful and relaxed. God, he wished Tony looked like this more often. He needed all the rest and relaxation he could get.

Even though it was only a little after 3 a.m. he headed down to the kitchen. Clint and Bruce were already there, which wasn't too surprising. Both Clint and Natasha were early birds and Bruce tended to keep odd hours like Tony.

"How's Tony?" Bruce asked.

Steve slid into the seat at the table across from him. "We're taking it one day at a time," he said. He knew Tony wouldn't want him telling everyone else about his attack, but he couldn't pretend that everything was perfect.

Bruce gave him a sympathetic smile. "If either of you need to talk, I'm always here. I don't claim to have all the answers, but sometimes just talking things through can help."

Tony wandered into the kitchen with the baby, adjusting her into a better nursing position as he grabbed his cup of coffee.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "I think you're doing things a little backwards."

"Shut up."

"Really, though. She's eating mush and now you want to go back to breast milk."

"For your information, even babies on solids still need to have formula or breast milk," Tony said. He smiled down at the baby. "So I'm going to nurse her for the rest of the time."

"Good for you," Bruce said. "There's so many benefits to breastfeeding. Not that bottle-feeding was bad for her or anything," he added quickly.

"I know," Tony said. "She's done just fine on the formula. But breastfeeding is better and I only want the best for my baby."

"So, what are we doing about all this formula that you're not going to use now?"

Tony shrugged. "Donate it, probably. Well, most of it. I should keep a little for those time when we get called out and Pepper has to take over."

Clint grinned. "So does that mean we get our pantry back now?"

"Nope. Just means there's more room for baby food jars."

"Damn it."

"No cursing in front of the baby," Tony said sternly.

Steve gently tugged Tony's arm. "How about we take the baby somewhere else and let Clint eat his breakfast in peace?"

Tony's forehead creased. "But it's not time to go for our walk yet."

"Soon."

"Yeah, soon. But soon isn't now. You have to get dressed and finish breakfast and everything. And then maybe it'll be time for our walk."

Steve fought to keep a straight face. "When will then be now?"

The corner of Tony's mouth curved upward. "A Spaceballs reference? I'm so proud."

"And I will be proud if we can all have breakfast together without fighting for once," Bruce muttered.

"Sorry, buddy," Tony said. He tapped a finger against Stephy's cheek. "Come on, kiddo. Mommy's got to get you ready for our walk. I know it'll be a little earlier than usual, but you'll get to see the sunrise. I know you'll love all the pretty colors." He jammed a mini muffin into his mouth and headed for the elevator.

"Well, that was easy," Steve said.

"Too easy," Clint grumbled.

"Let's just be thankful this time and not overthink it," Steve advised. "I'll see you guys later."

"Good luck," Clint called after him.

Steve got dressed in less than five minutes and headed back down to the den to wait for Tony. Since Tony had to get himself and the baby dressed he'd probably take a lot longer to get ready. So, Steve budgeted an extra twenty minutes at least. He settled into the couch and started up a cooking show.

The show ended and Tony still hadn't come back downstairs. With a sigh, Steve got up to look for him and see if he needed help getting the baby dressed or anything.

He checked Tony's room first and didn't see him, so he poked his head into the baby's room. Tony was sitting on the floor in the baby's room, arranging blocks in front of the baby and counting them out for her.

Steve cleared his throat and Tony looked up with a start.

"I thought we were going for our walk."

"Oh, you're right. I got distracted and..." Tony looked regretfully at the baby. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. We missed the sunrise today. But don't you worry, there's always tomorrow."

Stephy squealed and banged two blocks together.

Tony smiled and scooped her up in his arms. "Alright, Steve. We're ready to go."

Steve nodded as Tony shut the door behind them. He had forgotten how bland the baby's room was. Sure, the baby had her crib and her toys, a full closet full of clothes, and her changing table in the connected bathroom. But the walls were beige. And what child wanted a beige room?

He could transform the room into something really suitable for a child, he was sure. Maybe some pastel butterflies and fluffy clouds.

It would be a nice surprise for Tony's upcoming birthday. He just needed the others to keep Tony and the baby out of the room for a few hours while he painted.

Steve spent most of the hour walk running through designs in his head. He was definitely going to have to plan this out. Probably make a few dozen sketches before he knew exactly what to paint. And the park would be a good place to sit and sketch while observing the butterflies in their natural habitat.

He was lucky that Tony was in one of his moods when he just rambled on about technical things that Steve didn't understand, so he didn't notice that he wasn't paying quite as much attention to the conversation as usual.

After their walk, they stopped at a small cafe for breakfast. Tony slid into one of the booths and unbuttoned his shirt just enough to let Stephy nurse. None of the other customers seemed fazed except for one young man a table over who was watching with unholy glee as he recorded them with his iPhone. Probably to sell to TMZ or one of the other stupid gossip sites. It was irritating how little privacy there was in the modern world.

Tony reached over to squeeze Steve's hand. "Good publicity, remember?"

Right. The world wouldn't just take their word for it that Tony was a good mother. They had to have proof. Well, here was their proof. Maybe this would finally be enough to get the media to stop bothering Tony all the time. Because Tony didn't deserve to have all these vultures following him around, waiting and hoping for him to crack.

Tony squeezed a little harder. "Steve, you need to relax. You have your war face on."

"Sorry. I just don't like the paparazzi following us around when we're just trying to have time to ourselves."

Tony's mouth twisted wryly. "I don't like it either, but that's just the way it is. You can't always get what you want."

"Well, you should. Love, respect, family. Whatever you want. You deserve it."

Tony smiled and patted his cheek. "I already have all that. You, the baby, the team pack. But thanks for caring."

"I'll never stop caring," Steve murmured.

And he didn't care if the paparazzi heard that.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve should have known that once he gave Tony a possible solution to his trust issues, Tony wouldn't want to stop until the issue was resolved.

It would take time, he had told Tony. He had anticipated maybe once a week, when Tony was in a good state of mind, to settle in beside the omega and walk him through learning to trust again. And then maybe a few days in between tries for Tony to recover from the traumatic experience. But Tony wanted to spend as much time having Steve touch his gland as possible. And that meant going through it every day.

He hated having to see Tony so distraught every single day, but it was Tony's body, so they would do it his way. And begrudgingly, he had to admit that Tony had a point. Touching him every day normalized their interaction, made it less of an even that Tony would have to psych himself up for.

But that didn't mean he couldn't still do his part to reward Tony's courage after every session.

Tony usually came to him in the afternoons. They had quickly figured out that doing anything right before bed left Tony too rattled to get any sleep. But during the day, Steve could spend an hour holding him and comforting him, and then let him down to the workshop to work through his nervous energy by the end of the day.

They had gone through two weeks of sessions already and while Tony was still very anxious and upset each time, Tony wasn't completely paralyzed with fear now. Sometimes Tony just shook and whimpered, and sometimes he whispered to himself that he could get through this. However slowly it happened, it was still progress.

On the afternoon of the third week, Steve sat with Tony in the den. Natasha and Clint were off doing things for SHIELD, and Bruce was up on Thor's floor attempting to teach him how to use the vacuum cleaner. So they had the whole room to themselves.

Steve started with stroking the back of his hand over Tony's cheek, tracing his jawline, and then slowly moving down his neck to his gland.

He was used to Tony's sharp intake of breath and rapid heartbeat. They weren't sounds he liked to hear, so he never kept his finger over Tony's gland for every long.

As soon as he took his finger off the gland, Tony threw himself into his arms

Steve stroked his back and murmured soothingly to him until Tony stopped shaking. "You did good for me baby. Real good. I'll get you a bowl of ice cream."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Ice cream?"

"It'll help," Steve said. "You'll get comfort and a treat every time I touch your gland. Soon you'll be associating it with good things."

"Excuses," Tony said. "You're just trying to fatten me up." He rubbed a hand over his stomach. "Since I can't get pregnant, you want the next best thing."

Steve frowned. It was true that most alphas liked seeing their mate or long-term partner pregnant. The pride in creating offspring and an omega's happy pregnancy glow were a pretty irresistible combination. But he loved Tony for more than his biology.

"I would never make you pretend to be pregnant," Steve said. "That would be really insensitive and selfish of me. It's your body and I would never try to make you look-"

"I'm kidding," Tony said. "One bowl of ice cream isn't going to kill me." He patted Steve's knee. "You don't have to take all my tasteless jokes so seriously. I know you're way too good for evil plotting."

Steve shook his head. He knew Tony loved and trusted him, but sometimes he didn't think Tony still really believed he loved him, flaws and all. The self-deprecating jokes about how Steve was only putting up with him made Steve bristle, no matter how many times Tony assured him he was just joking.

Tony nudged him. "I believe you promised me ice cream."

"Right. I'll be right back."

Steve scooped out a bowlful of mint chocolate chip, Tony's favorite, and drizzled a generous amount of chocolate sauce over the top.

When he returned to the den, Tony's face lit up and he made grabby hands for the bowl. "Chocolate," he intoned reverently. "Come here, you delicious thing, you."

Steve shook his head and sat down on the couch next to Tony. He spooned out some ice cream.

Tony sighed. "I can feed myself, you know. I'm not that shaky anymore."

"I know," Steve said. "I want to do it anyway."

Tony huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, but he opened his mouth and let Steve feed him.

"I thought the point of this was to make me stronger than my past," Tony said between mouthfuls. He swallowed another bite. "All you're doing is making me seem weak and helpless."

"No," Steve said. "The point of this is to make you realize you can trust people to take care of you. Nobody here thinks you're weak. We've all had moments where we need each other's help and I want you to be able to trust us, especially me, to look after you when you need help. Nobody will think any less of you and nobody is going to take advantage of you when you're in a vulnerable position."

Tony leaned his head against Steve's shoulder and accepted another mouthful of ice cream. "Well, okay. I guess trust exercises with ice cream aren't so bad."

Steve stroked Tony's hair. "I like taking care of you, if you'll let me."

"Uh-huh," Tony said distractedly. He was leaning into Steve's touch, looking like he was enjoying being petted, but sadly not listening to what he was saying.

Steve sighed and pushed the empty bowl of ice cream to the side. "Come upstairs for a few minutes. I have something I want to show you."

"Okay." Tony slid off the couch and followed him to the elevator.

"Tony's floor, please," Steve said.

"My floor?" Tony looked at him questioningly.

"You'll see."

Steve knew the way to Tony's room from the one time he had been allowed to sleep in Tony's bedroom. It was a good thing he had paid attention then. He led Tony into the room and positioned him in front of the full-length mirror.

Tony groaned. "Don't tell me you want me to do the stupid mirror affirmations."

"Mirror affirmations?"

Tony waved a hand. "You know, making me look into the mirror and tell myself how beautiful I am. All that bullshit."

"That's a great idea," Steve said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Tony scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Steve chuckled. "No, we're not doing mirror affirmations. But I do want you to see something. Take a look in the mirror."

Tony sighed. "I know what I look like. I'm a sexy beast, okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and settled his chin on his shoulder. "Look harder."

"Still not understanding what you want me to look for. I'm hot, you're hot. But we don't need mirrors to know that."

"Ah," Steve said. "Now we're getting somewhere. You can see us together. And that's the first step in acknowledging our relationship." He pressed a kiss to Tony's cheek.

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it again. He frowned. "Now I really don't know where this is going."

Steve smiled. "Just trust me. It'll make sense in the end. I just need you to get naked for me."

"Uh-huh. So now you want me to see how oh so beautiful I am despite all my scars, right?"

"Nope. I'm going to give you a handjob."

"Sex," Tony said gleefully. "Why didn't you say so? I'm always up for that." He shucked off his shirt and reached for his zipper.

"Wait," Steve said. "Let me do that for you."

Tony made a noise in the back of his throat and his eyes fluttered shut as Steve slowly undid Tony's pants and slid them down his hips.

"I'm going to make this good for you," Steve promised. He knelt down in front of Tony so he could caress his thigh as he worked his underwear off.

Tony opened one eye and recoiled. "No," he said in a panicked tone. "Why are you kneeling? You're an alpha. Alphas don't kneel for anyone."

"I can if I want to," Steve said firmly. "And it doesn't make me any less of an alpha."

Tony still looked stricken, as if he was expecting the very structure of society to come crashing down around him so Steve relented and beckoned to him. "C'mere and sit on my lap."

With a sigh of relief, Tony sank down into Steve's lap and curled into him.

"Want to talk about it?" Steve asked.

Tony averted his eyes. "Nothing to talk about."

"Look at me, Tony. This is important." He cupped his hands around Tony's face. "You're the omega. That means you have the power in this relationship."

Tony snorted derisively.

"I'm serious. Alphas were never meant to have absolute power. As an omega, you have the freedom to accept and reject any courtship advances you want."

Tony sighed. "Steve, I don't-"

"So that means you're absolutely entitled to say no whenever you want and expect to have that respected. You have the power here, Tony. Tell me to stop whenever you want and we will."

"Great," Tony said. "I want you to stop all this emotional shit. You're supposed to be giving me a handjob."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Alright, that's it for now. Just something for you to think about."

Tony shifted his legs apart and leaned back further into Steve's chest. "I don't want to think anymore. I just want to feel."

"Okay," Steve said. He could work with that. Tony might not want to talk about his feelings, but Steve could still show him how much he loved him.

He stroked a hand up Tony's inner thigh and kissed the underside of his jaw. "I'm going to make this good for you."

"Uh-huh," Tony murmured. "Know you will."

Steve started off nice and slow, carefully stroking up and down Tony's length. He wanted this to last as long as possible. Long enough for the experience to really be stamped on Tony's mind. He just wanted him to remember how good it felt, how nice it was to have someone looking after his needs for once.

Tony's eyes fluttered shut and he made tiny whimpering sounds as he arched into Steve's touch.

"You want to see?" Steve asked.

Tony managed to pry his eyes open. "Wha?" he asked.

God, he loved how wrecked Tony sounded. The huskiness in his voice was doing all sorts of things to him. But he forced down the surge of desire. It was all about Tony right now. His needs could wait.

"Look at us in the mirror," Steve said. "Can you see my hand wrapped around you?"

Tony groaned. "Kinky. I love it."

"And I love you," Steve said. "God, Tony, you don't know how much I love doing this for you."

"Love you, too," Tony said. His eyes were glassy and fever-bright as he met Steve's in the mirror. "You're so good at this, Steve. Love it. Love you."

Steve rubbed his thumb over Tony's slit, smiling at Tony's mewl of pleasure. "That's it, baby. I'm taking real good care of you. You can see for yourself."

Tony's eyes flicked back to the mirror and he blinked a few times, trying to focus his gaze.

"You're so beautiful like this," Steve said. "All the way from your flushed cheeks down to your perfect penis." He gently squeezed Tony's dick for emphasis. "Every inch of your body is perfect."

"Steve," Tony moaned.

"I've got you," Steve said. He picked up the pace, sensing Tony was close. "I've got you, Tony, and I'm never letting go. I'm going to take such good care of you for the rest of my life."

Tony came with a cry, splattering across the mirror.

Steve held him through the aftershocks, kissing his forehead and his cheeks. "That's it, baby. Just relax. I'll get you cleaned up in a second."

"You're so good to me," Tony murmured drowsily, his eyes starting to droop again.

"I try," Steve said. "I like seeing you happy."

"So happy," Tony said agreeably. He offered no protest as Steve grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and began wiping him off.

Steve grabbed Tony's pajamas off the bed and helped him into them. "You look like you could use a nap for a few hours, so I'll leave you to it. You'll know where to find me if you need anything."

"Uh-huh," Tony said. He wrapped his arms around Steve's neck as he scooped him up and deposited him on the bed.

Tony had to be really out of it if he wasn't protesting that he was fine. Steve had seen Tony about to keel over from exhaustion still insisting he could go on for another few hours after he had a cup of coffee. But Tony just curled up under the covers without another word.

"You're sure you're okay?" Steve asked.

Tony smiled, warm and hazy. "I'm good. Just really fucked out right now." He suppressed a yawn and snuggled deeper into the blankets.

Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead. "See you later, then."

His first stop was down to the gym for his daily workout. Because if Tony did need anything, it was the first place he'd come looking. But he went through his whole two-hour set with no interruptions.

He wasn't going to be too concerned yet. Since Tony always pushed himself so long without sleeping, whenever he took a nap, it was usually two or three hours at a time. He just hoped Tony would wake up in time for dinner.

Since Clint and Natasha were supposed to be gone for a few days, the rest of them had decided to go out for a late dinner at Bruce's favorite restaurant one night. Clint hated Indian food, so they only went out for curry when he was gone.

Workout finished, Steve headed back up to his floor to shower off the sweat and get presentable for an evening out.

After a good workout, he always took a long shower, letting the warm water easing the tension in his muscles. He had just started to relax in the heat when there was a knock on the door.

"Steve, you in there?"

"I'm taking a shower, Tony," Steve called out. "I'll be out in just a minute."

Tony stepped into the bathroom, the baby balanced on his hip. "Can we join you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Steve said. "It seems dangerous."

"Nonsense," Tony said. "I took a bath with her last week and everything was fine. Just don't let her head go under the water."

Well, Tony knew best, he supposed. Under Tony's watchful gaze, he turned off the shower nozzle and let the tub fill with a little lukewarm water.

Tony dipped a finger into the water. "Perfect," he declared. "If you'll hold her for just a moment, I'll grab her bath stuff."

Steve opened his mouth to protest. He was still pretty awkward holding the baby. And it would be even worse with his hands wet and slippery. But Tony settled the baby firmly against his chest and stepped out of the room.

Steve gingerly patted Stephy's back. "Just you and me, baby girl."

"Bah," Stephy said. She braced her hands against his chest and craned her head back to stare up at him.

"It's okay," Steve said. "Mommy will be back in just a minute."

Tony returned shortly with an armful of stuff for the baby and immediately dumped almost all of it right into the tub. Steve picked through the wad and set the bottles of soap and shampoo safely on a ledge nearby. The washcloth and all the little squirt toys could stay where they were.

He watched Tony bustle around the bathroom, setting out sets of clean clothes and towels."You seem nice and energetic again. Must have had a good nap."

"The best nap," Tony said with a grin. "Nothing wears me out better than a good bout of exercise."

Steve smiled. "I'm glad."

Tony made faces at the baby. "Were you good for Daddy while Mommy set up all the bath stuff?"

"She was very good," Steve said. "But I'm sure she's happy to go back to Mommy now."

Tony waved him off as he started shimmying out of his clothes. "Just hold her for a little bit. She doesn't get to spend that much time with you. So I'm sure she's enjoying it."

"I spend time with her every day," Steve argued.

"Not as much time as I do." Tony lowered his voice. "Listen, Steve, I don't want her to think of you just as the guy dating her mother. I want you to really step up and be a good father for her."

"Okay," Steve said. "Just tell me what to do."

He knew how important it was for Tony that he not be the type of father Howard was. Of course he would never purposefully ignore or mistreat the baby, but he was never going to be the perfect father. His body had never felt bigger and more awkward than when he was trying to hold this tiny baby.

"It's easy," Tony said. "You just hold her and talk to her and spend more time being with her so she gets to know you better."

Steve sighed. "Every time I hold her, it feels like I'm doing it wrong and I'm going to drop her. I don't know how you manage. You're just so much better at parenting than I am."

Tony gave him a look. "We already had this conversation. I'm not naturally good at babies either. But practice makes perfect and you're going to keep practicing until it feels right." He carefully stepped into the tub and settled in beside Steve. "And I'll be there to help you every step of the way."

Steve smiled. "Then why don't you help me get her all sudsy?"

It was easier than Steve thought. He kept the baby distracted with splashing in the water and squirting water out of the little whale toys while Tony gently rubbed soap over her back and rinsed her off. She fussed a little when Tony interrupted her playtime to wash her hair, but she was a good-natured baby and it took little effort to get her giggling and squeezing the whales again.

And after she was nice and clean, Tony settled her back against Steve's chest and curled up beside him to rest his head on Steve's shoulder. "Look at you," Tony said affectionately. "First bath with the baby. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No," Steve agreed. He smiled down at Tony. "It's actually been great. I don't take baths very often, but having the two of you here with me is nice and cozy. I could stay like this all day."

Tony snorted."No, if you stay in here too long she'll probably pee on you."

Well, that was good to know. Steve carefully adjusted the baby on his chest.

Tony laughed. "Probably time to start getting out anyway. Don't want Stephy getting cold." He hopped out first, quickly running the towel over himself and then putting on his clean pair of clothes. "Alright, hand me the baby."

Steve passed Stephy out to Tony and watched the genius coo over the baby as he put her in a clean diaper and wrapped her up in a hooded towel.

"You coming out?" Tony asked. "You're going to turn into a prune pretty soon."

Steve hopped out and wrapped the towel around his waist to wander into the bedroom to get dressed.

"I got you some clothes, too," Tony said. "But you can get a new pair if you don't like what I picked."

Steve stopped and looked at the pair of jeans, navy blue shirt, and leather jacket laid out across the sink. This was the jacket that Tony had given to him at Christmas, jokingly declaring that this was a historic moment, the first fashionable thing Steve had ever owned.

Sensing how expensive the jacket had to be, Steve never wore it around the house or out on his motorcycle. It was reserved only for occasions when the team had press conferences or went anywhere they'd be expected to be photographed and needed to look their best.

"You remembered that we were going out tonight," he said slowly.

Tony blinked at him. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No, it's just...never mind. What's next?"

"You can help put Stephy in her new outfit," Tony said with a lopsided smile.

The onesie had"You can do it, Daddy!" plastered right across the middle along with a picture of a harried man juggling a baby, a bottle, and a set of baby clothes.

Steve raised an eyebrow.

Tony grinned. "I have one with detailed instructions, if you'd prefer." He held up another onesie that had arrows pointing to the arm and leg holes, also helpfully labeled as arm and leg holes.

Steve shook his head. "If this thing says I can do it, I can do it."

Tony helped him spread out the towel over the counter and lay Stephy back down on top of it. Because Tony had designed every room in the Tower, even the bathrooms on Steve's floor were bigger then he needed. But, he had to admit that the extra counter space came in handy for getting the baby changed.

Stephy put up a fuss when Steve started getting her dressed because she was busy sucking on her toes and didn't want to put her feet down. But somehow Steve managed to wrestle her into her clothes.

Tony grinned. "Nice work, Daddy-O."

Steve rolled his eyes and scooped the baby into his arms to comfort her because she was still crying.

"She's usually really sleepy right after a bath so you just need to rock her a little and then settle her into bed."

Stephy didn't look tired to Steve. She just looked unhappy. But he dutifully rocked her in his arms until her cries tapered into yawns and she fell asleep curled into his chest.

"That's it," Tony said. "And now we put her down so we can get ready for dinner."

"Are we bringing Stephy, too?"

"Nah, Pepper's coming over to watch her. She'd probably just sleep the whole time, but she'll sleep a lot better at home. I know how rowdy we all get on our nights out."

"Probably a good idea," Steve agreed.

The last time the whole team had gone out for a fun night, they had been attacked by a group of drunks after Thor complained that Budweiser tasted like sewer water. The drunken idiots had been easily pried off Thor and tossed out of the bar, but Steve really didn't want Stephy to be caught up in the middle of anything like that.

"And besides," Tony said with a playful grin, "it's going to be my birthday next Saturday. And birthdays are always a good excuse to get rowdy."

Steve smiled weakly. Tony's birthday was coming faster than he would have liked. He still wasn't entirely satisfied with his sketches for the baby's room, but unless he had a sudden flash of inspiration in the next week, he'd have to make do with what he had.

"I know what you're thinking," Tony said. "Why should I start celebrating my birthday a week early? Arrogant and selfish, right?"

"Tony, I'm not-"

"Kidding," Tony said with a flash of a smile. "But I know some of you quiet homebodies will whine about having to go out and be social. This is my one chance to force you to do some serious partying and I'm not above pulling the birthday guilt trip."

Steve frowned. "It's not nice for you to force Bruce into these situations."

"I'm not talking about Bruce. Well, I'm not talking just about Bruce." He elbowed Steve. "I'm talking about you, you big lug. You've been so focused and serious all week. I really appreciate you helping me out and all, but I know it's wearing you down. You need to get out and have fun. And I know you won't do it unless I give you an excuse. So consider this your birthday gift to me."

Steve cupped Tony's cheek and pulled him into a kiss. "That's very thoughtful of you. But that's not going to be your birthday present."

"Ooh," Tony said. He waggle his eyebrows suggestively. "Put the baby to bed and then we'll discuss this further."

"That's not going to be your birthday present either."

Tony shrugged. "Worth a try."

"I'll get you off if you want," Steve said. "But I don't consider sex an appropriate present."

Tony grinned. "I do. But we'll do things the traditional way, I guess. Something in a little box wrapped with a bow." He eased the baby from Steve's hands and cradled her against his chest. "I've learned the value of non-material gifts over the years, you know."

"I've noticed," Steve said.

"So don't feel like you have to go out and buy me something. Because I probably already have it anyway."

"Of course," Steve said. "What could you buy for the man who already has everything?"

Tony frowned. "You're not going to tell me what it is, are you?"

"Nope," Steve said cheerfully. "Only hint you'll get is that I'm making it myself."

"Ah," Tony said. "Something artsy. A framed painting of yours truly?"

"Keep guessing," Steve said. "But I'm not telling."

"Well, we'll see about that," Tony said. His eyes twinkled. "Jarvis will tell me what you're up to."

"No, Sir, I will not."

"Traitor," Tony said, clutching his chest in mock outrage. "Is this how you treat your beloved master on his birthday?"

"Perhaps if you installed mind-reading capabilities I could assist you," Jarvis said. "But as it is, the Captain has done nothing to indicate his intentions."

"Well, I guess you're off the hook," Tony grumbled. "But I will find out. Even if I have to bribe Clint to spy on you."

"Good thing Clint's not here then," Steve cheerfully as he slipped on his jacket.

Tony looked like he had a snarky comeback for that, but he opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally muttered, "Oh, just you wait until I put the baby down. Then you'll really have it."

There was no real heat in Tony's threat, and sure enough, when he returned from settling the baby into bed, he was eager to get out to eat, whining that Steve was taking too long getting ready, that everyone was taking too long getting ready, and he was going to starve to death before they all went anywhere.

Steve humored him and rounded up Thor and Bruce to go out to the restaurant.

It was nice to have a chance to hang out with the team, even if it wasn't the entire team. Everyone was always so busy and to have a chance to just sit down with a nice meal and just talk for a few hours was a blessing.

Tony was doing most of the talking, as usual, but he was also shoveling food in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in a week, which gave Bruce or Steve a chance to try and steer the conversation away from some of Tony's more ridiculous subjects. At least until Tony had swallowed his next mouthful.

Steve wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten onto the topic, but Tony was gleefully telling Thor all about pro wrestling.

"And this is staged, you say," Thor mused. "Why not engage in actual combat?"

"Because you'd probably fucking kill someone if you actually whaled on them with a metal folding chair."

"It is not so," Thor insisted. "I have done so before, to prevent some of my drunken brethren from quarreling and causing themselves grievous injury."

"He's referring to metal chairs," Bruce said patiently. "They won't break or splinter on impact."

"You wouldn't know about that," Tony said. "You Asgardians probably make all your shit out of wood."

"Aye," Thor said proudly. "Carved from the mighty oak tree."

Steve's eyes went wide. That was exactly what the baby's room needed to tie it all together. A great big oak tree right in the middle, with butterflies swirling around it like falling leaves.

Tony elbowed him. "What's the matter, Steve? You're awfully quiet all of a sudden."

"Oh, nothing," Steve said. "I'm fine."

He smiled. It looked like he had found his sudden flash of inspiration after all.


	13. Chapter 13

In the days leading up to his birthday, Tony was even more of a ball of manic energy than usual. He had all sorts of plans for his birthday and couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted the party in the dining room, the den, or down in the lab so he was constantly trying to rearrange the furniture so there would be enough room to set up. And Steve had to keep chasing after him to make sure he didn't overexert himself.

He didn't want to scold Tony when he was so obviously excited to be sharing his special day with the team and it would break his heart to have to crush Tony's spirit. But he wanted Tony to sit down and take it easy for a bit, let the others do some of the work. No one should have to do all the preparations for their own birthday party.

Tony's redecorating spree fortunately only lasted until Clint and Natasha returned from their mission and a battle-weary Natasha had chewed Tony out for moving all the mugs when all she wanted was a nice hot cup of chamomile tea and some sleep.

Tony had quickly come to a decision that the party would be in the den and had stuck to poring over his extensive music collection and making small adjustments to the couches for the next two days.

It was a good thing that Tony found Natasha so inexplicably scary sometimes.

That evening, under the guise of debriefing, he managed to quietly pull Clint aside and take him up to the baby's room to talk strategy.

Clint listened as Steve outlined what he was going to do with the room, nodding his agreement as he showed him the first few sketches he had attempted. "Hell yeah," he said. "Tony's going to love it."

"Can I count on you to help me run interference on the day?"

"Absolutely." He grinned. "Nobody's better at being a pain in the ass distraction than I am. I can keep him occupied all day."

"Good," Steve said. "I'll talk to the others later so you can all coordinate your distraction attempts."

There were so many ways they could keep Tony busy. Bruce could start an exciting new project in the lab, Thor could require assistance with the TV, Natasha could drag Tony down for a sparring match, and Clint would probably just jam things so Tony would have to fix them. And if they combined all their strategies together, Tony would never notice Steve was off in the baby's room painting.

"Sir requires your immediate presence in the den," Jarvis said suddenly.

"Fuck," Clint said. "Wanna bet the idiot tried to move the entertainment center by himself and got caught in the wires?"

Steve sighed. "I hope not."

He tucked his sketchbook under his arm and headed for the elevator, Clint muttering about Tony's destructiveness as he trailed along behind him.

When they got downstairs, Natasha and Bruce were already there and Tony was standing in the middle of the den, smiling broadly as the baby sprawled at his feet.

Clint frowned. "So, what's the emergency?"

"No emergency," Tony said. "I just didn't want you to miss the baby's first time crawling."

Now that Tony mentioned it, the baby was making her way slowly across the carpet, using her elbows to drag herself along.

"Just like her daddy," Tony said proudly. "You remember the good ol' Army crawl, don't you, Steve?"

"Unfortunately," Steve said. As if he could ever forget the long slog through boot camp.

"But this is so much better," Tony said, beaming down at the baby as she pushed herself up into a sitting position to grab at the edge of the blanket dangling off the couch. He scooped her up in his arms with the blanket and cradled the baby against his chest. "Best birthday present I ever had."

Natasha smiled. "Too bad she couldn't wait until the actual day. Now that would have really been a great birthday present."

"I'm not talking just about the crawling thing," Tony said. "I'm talking about this." He waved a hand, encompassing the whole room in his gesture. "The baby, Steve, the team. You jerks aren't as bad as I thought."

"Wow, what a ringing endorsement," Natasha said with a roll of her eyes.

Steve smiled. For Tony, it was.

It was still so hard for Tony to admit that he enjoyed having a pack, liked to fuss over the team, and have them take care of him when he needed help. Even such a lukewarm declaration of affection was a step in the right direction.

He kissed Tony's forehead. "Glad to know you've got everything you've ever wanted for your birthday. Guess I won't have to get you anything, then."

Tony let out a squawk of protest. "Don't you dare."

"Alright," Clint said. "Now I can save that 'World's Greatest Genius' mug for myself."

Tony scowled. "I've changed my mind. You're all still horrible jerks."

"I'm kidding," Steve said. "We're all going to get you some very nice presents and make sure this year, you have the best birthday."

"Thanks, babe," Tony said. "And I'm going to make sure this is the best birthday party ever. I mean, it's not as big as some of the parties I've had in the past, but hey, less people, more booze for the rest of us, right?"

"Stop worrying about it," Steve said. "Take a break, play a couple videogames with Clint or something." He gave Clint a meaningful glance.

"Oh, sure," Clint said. "Sure. Hey, Tony, let's go break out the new Mario game I've got. I think it's still upstairs on my floor." He ushered Tony towards the elevator, twisting to give Steve a thumbs up over his shoulder.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, team. I have a mission for you all. And Tony's not to know about it." He cleared his throat. "I'll be painting the baby's room and I don't want Tony to see until it's finished."

Natasha grinned. "I like it. Don't worry, Cap. We've got you covered. Operation Distraction is a go."

Steve felt a lot better with Natasha taking the lead. She was the most devious out of all of them and would be able to dream up creative ways to stall Tony that he would never have even considered. Steve smiled as they headed up to her floor to do more planning, confident that everything would be worked out.

In the meantime, he had some measuring to do.

Steve didn't have any real urge to find out what the rest of the team was planning. When the team trooped down from Natasha's room, he didn't ask what they had discussed. So maybe he was slightly curious when Natasha and Clint exchanged knowing glances, but he didn't ask. If he needed to know any part of their plan, they would surely tell him. Otherwise, it was probably best if he knew as little as possible.

The day before Tony's birthday, the omega called another team meeting down in the den. He had dragged in a few tables from the other room and was standing on top of one, attempting to hang a banner from the ceiling fan when the team arrived.

"So," Clint said, surveying the work. "Decided you need our help with set-up after all?"

"Change of plans," Tony said. "Pepper's organized a big charity gala for my birthday. Because that way we can actually get people to come and party and donate to charity as their birthday present to me."

"Clever," Steve said. "Gotta love that birthday guilt-trip."

Tony grinned. "Ten thousand for the privilege of attending the best party in the world. It's a good deal."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You really expect us to pay ten grand to go to this party?"

"Of course not. You all would be my honored guests. It's good publicity for the company and the team to have you there. And it's so much more fun than a boring press conference."

"Free food, free booze?" Clint said. "Hell yes. Sign me up."

Natasha grinned. "I've been looking for a good excuse to take that nice red dress out of the closet."

"Is this really going to be a good idea?" Steve asked. "It would be really bad publicity of one of us-"

"Don't be such a worrywart," Tony said. "Pepper will be there. She'll make sure nobody gets really drunk and starts smashing bottles." He gave Thor a long look.

"I guess I'm staying home with the baby then," Bruce said with a wry smile.

"You don't have to," Steve said. "Agent Hill or Agent Thirteen could-"

Bruce waved him off. "I'd rather take babysitting over partying any day. No offense, Tony."

"None taken, big guy," Tony said cheerfully. "But you have to be there for the afterparty. We're all sneaking out a little before midnight so I can spend the final moments of my birthday at home with my pack."

"I'll be here," Bruce said.

"Good, good. Let me show you were all the stuff is in the fridge. Not that anybody will want to drink cheap beer after all that fancy champagne and vodka, but still, it's available. And there's delicious lemon cake and-"

The rest of Tony's words were faded out as Bruce dragged him into the kitchen.

Steve was sure Tony had a whole range of goodies prepared. Which was great. One thing Steve had learned was that fancy parties only served bite-sized morsels of food. And with his appetite, it was hard to get enough to eat without feeling greedy. So, he was much happier about the promise of a big slice of lemon cake from Tony's favorite bakery.

"We'll have to move up our timetable," Natasha hissed, eyes flicking towards the kitchen. "If we're supposed to be going to a fancy dinner that night, we'll have to allot time for getting presentable. So that means Steve will need an earlier start if he wants to get it all done."

"As soon as he gets up," Clint agreed. "One of us will probably have to go walking with Tony instead."

Steve felt a little bad. Tony would probably be disappointed that he had to miss their daily walk. But it was for a good cause. Tony would forgive him when he saw the results.

In the meantime, he would soothe his guilty conscience by spending as much time with Tony as possible before the big day.

He brought food down to Tony in the lab and stuck around for a few hours, sketching and lending a hand whenever Tony needed help with his projects. After dinner with the team, he let Tony talk him into watching Star Trek and then carried him up to the bedroom to run his hands all over his body. He always took pride in how easily Tony came apart under his touches.

"If this is the awesome treatment I get the day before my birthday, I'm going to be fucking spoiled tomorrow," Tony said gleefully.

"You deserve it," Steve said. "You work so hard taking care of the rest of us. Tomorrow is your day to relax and let us pamper you."

"Sounds good," Tony said. He stretched luxuriously. "Night, Steve."

"Night, Tony." He wrapped his arms around the genius and let him snuggle into his chest.


	14. Chapter 14

On the morning of Tony's birthday, he woke up a little earlier than usual. One glance showed him that Tony was still fast asleep, burrowed deep into the covers. On any other day, Steve would be content to just curl up in bed for a little longer while Tony slept, but now he was a little tempted to sneak out while he had the chance and get started on his art. It wasn't the nicest thing to do on Tony's birthday, but those extra few minutes might make all the difference later.

The decision was made for him when Tony stirred and slowly blinked open his eyes, breaking into a sleepy smile when he looked up at Steve.

"Good morning," Steve said. "And happy birthday." He kissed Tony's upturned face.

Tony pulled him down closer and they stayed like that for a little while, kissing languidly. Steve would have happily stayed in bed with the omega all morning, just cuddling and kissing, but he had work to do, so he reluctantly pulled out of Tony's embrace.

"Give me one good reason why we can't keep cuddling," Tony said, pawing at Steve in an attempt to drag him back to bed.

"The baby," Steve said.

Tony huffed. "I suppose that's a good reason." He sighed as he rolled out of bed

"We'll cuddle tonight," Steve promised. "After the party."

"We'd better," Tony said. "We'd better cuddle so hardcore."

Steve snorted and padded for the door. Tony would catch up with him pretty soon, but he'd at least have a small headstart on breakfast.

Both Clint and Natasha were sitting in the kitchen when he got downstairs.

"Where's Tony?" Clint asked eagerly.

"Probably checking on the baby." He bit into a muffin and grabbed a handful of granola bars. It was going to be a long day and he needed all the sustenance he could get to keep going.

Tony wandered into the kitchen just as Steve was finishing his sixth muffin.

"Morning, guys," Tony said. He adjusted the baby on his hip and reached for a mug.

Clint's face split into a wide, scheming smile. "Ah, the birthday boy," he said. "Just the man we wanted to see."

Natasha gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look and Clint quickly schooled his face into something less malevolent.

Tony turned around, quirking an eyebrow. "Something going on back there?"

"Nope," Clint said. "Absolutely nothing."

"Okay then." Tony poured some hot water into his mug and reached for a box of tea bags. Instead of coffee, he had taken to drinking a special lactation tea every morning.

"That junk doesn't even work," Clint said.

"It doesn't work for you, obviously," Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

"But you're already breastfeeding. It's not doing anything for you."

Natasha jerked her head towards the elevator, mouthing "go".

Steve nodded and quietly slipped out while Clint and Tony were still arguing.

It was so quiet upstairs. And there was the little niggling sensation in the back of his mind that he really wasn't supposed to be up on Tony's floor. Tony wasn't going to catch him, the team would make sure of that. And he had Jarvis' word that he wasn't going to rat him out to his master. But still, it felt a little like sneaking into enemy territory.

He felt a lot more at ease after he successfully smuggled the paint cans and the tarps into the baby's room and closed and locked the door behind him.

Now there was nothing to do except lose himself in the creative process.

About two hours into it, his phone rang.

"You're going to need to get down here and let Tony pick something out for you to wear tonight," Natasha said. "We can only hold him off for so long."

"Seriously? You're having trouble already? I thought you guys had a plan for the whole day."

"Just come down and get this over with," she hissed. "You know how he gets when he's excited about something. So once you let him pick out an outfit for you, we'll all be fine and you can go back to work."

Steve sighed and surveyed his work. He wasn't done yet. Not even close. He had only the outline of the oak tree done and a few butterflies scattered around its trunk. But he supposed it couldn't hurt to take a break.

When he got downstairs, everyone was in the den, inspecting a selection of dress shirts,watches, belts, ties, and jewelry that had been laid out over the couches like some weird high-class swapmeet.

"There you are," Tony said sternly. "Where have you been?"

"Uhh," Steve said, his eyes flicking towards Natasha. She would probably come up with a much better excuse than he could.

"I know, I know," Tony said. "Fancy dress gives you hives or something. But after all the work I put into-"

Natasha cleared her throat.

Tony rolled his eyes."Okay, after all the work we put into getting some nice shit ready for tonight, you're damn well not going to my party in sweats, Steve." He ushered Steve over to the closest couch.

Steve was stunned. "So, you got all of this stuff ready this morning?"

"Well, mostly. The rest of the time, I spent threatening Clint with exile in space or eating the last of the bacon if he didn't get out of the air ducts and try some of this stuff on. Thankfully, you seem to have been much more reasonable. Either that, or Natasha's a better negotiator than I am."

Steve grinned. "You could say that."

"Anyway," Tony said. "This couch is stuff that should fit you. So, pick whichever suit and accessories you want. I've got to go check on the baby."

As soon as Tony was out of earshot, Clint muttered, "Doesn't Pepper usually do all the planning shit?"

"Only for things Tony's not personally invested in," Natasha said with a quirk of her lip. "Be thankful that he cares enough to harass you."

Tony waltzed back into the room, decked out in a very nice tuxedo. He spread his arms out. "So, guys, what do you think?"

Steve's phone chirped, alerting him to an incoming text message.

"Oh boy," Tony said. "Another ass-chewing from Fury. How thoughtful of the bastard to schedule it on my birthday, of all days." He nudged Steve's side. "It is Fury, isn't it? Or maybe it's another modeling contract. Because everyone knows you're hot stuff."

Steve stared at the screen. "Peggy?" he said in disbelief. He didn't remember giving her his number. He didn't even think she had a cell phone. But her name was on the screen, clear as day.

Tony's face fell. "Oh god, Steve. I'm sorry."

Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you should go to her," she said in a solemn tone. But her eyes were twinkling as she slipped her own phone back into her pocket.

Steve's hand clenched around the phone. "This isn't...I can't believe...really?" He glared at Natasha, too angry to speak.

"I'll drive him there," Natasha said serenely. She hooked her arm in Steve's and tugged him gently towards the elevator.

"I'll be back for the party," Steve called over his shoulder.

Tony nodded, but his expression was blank and distant, all the light gone from his eyes.

As soon as the doors closed, Steve rounded on her. "I can't believe you," he snapped. "This little stunt is so far over the line."

Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "You were willing to lie to him about your whereabouts, but this crosses the line?"

"Yes," Steve hissed. "Because now he's going to feel guilty about wanting me at his birthday party when Peggy might be dying or whatever else he thinks is happening. Tony's spent enough time feeling worthless and unimportant. I don't want him to feel that way on his own birthday."

Natasha's expression softened. "We're not going to let that happen. We'll keep him so busy he won't have time to think about it."

"I sure hope so," Steve said. "And you better have plenty of fun activities for him. After that nice guilt trip, he doesn't need to be cleaning up people's messes and broken tech."

"It'll be fine," Natasha assured him. She patted his cheek. "We take full responsibility for this. Your conscience should be clear."

Still, Steve couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Guilty enough to make a quick call to the hospital to ask how Peggy was doing. The nurses reported no change in her condition, which was a relief.

So, it was time to go back to work.

It was a little before five when Steve finally finished. He stood back and surveyed the mural for a moment, looking for any spots he might have missed. Satisfied it was at least fully painted, he sent a quick text to Natasha to keep Tony distracted and hurried his way downstairs, arriving in the den from the south entrance to make it look like he had come up from the garage.

"Steve!" Tony said delightedly. He threw his arms around Steve's neck. "You made it back."

"Of course I did. I promised I'd be here."

Tony pulled back for a moment. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah," Steve said with a smile. "It was a good day."

Tony brightened. "Another reason to celebrate today." He shooed Steve off to the bathroom. "We're going to be fashionably late at this point, but that's the way I like it. Just don't dawdle too long or I'll start hearing it from Pepper."

Steve dressed as quickly as he could and met the rest of the team in the garage. Natasha shot him a proud smirk as she slipped into the back of Happy's limo.

Okay, Steve admitted it. The plan had worked. And now he got to enjoy sitting beside Tony and holding his hand on the way to the party. He had really missed spending time with the omega during the afternoon, and now he was going to make it all up to him.

When they arrived, Pepper was standing onstage in a shimmering silver dress, announcing a few items that were going to be auctioned off for charity. She said nothing about their arrival, only smiled a little wider in their direction.

Tony grinned and tugged at Steve's arm. "Come on, babe. Let's get ourselves lost in the crowd."

Steve nodded to the rest of the team. "Catch up with you guys later."

Natasha smiled. "Have fun, you two."

Tony dragged him first over to the bar and got them each a glass of champagne. "A toast to my favorite Capsicle," he said grandly.

"I'm your only Capsicle."

Tony's eyes sparkled as he clinked their glasses together. "That's what I like about you."

Steve took a sip of his champagne and glanced around. The party looked like it was in full swing. Plenty of people dancing, drinking, eating canapes and gossiping together. "You're one of a kind too, you know. Look at everybody who's come here for you."

"Not for me," Tony said with a wry smile. "For what I represent. Money, fame, favor. They don't want me. They just want to be seen with me."

Steve squeezed his shoulder. "I want you."

Tony swallowed down the rest of his champagne. "I'm getting the drinking over with now so the alcohol will have plenty of time to get through my system before we go home," he confided in a low voice.

"Always thinking of the baby," Steve said fondly. He kissed Tony's forehead and eased the empty champagne flute out of his hand. "I'm proud of you."

Tony leaned in closer, looping his arms around Steve's neck. "Come find me on the dance floor, soldier." And then he was gone, skirting through the crowd.

Steve followed his departure with a heated gaze. Tony wasn't usually this playful, but a chase sounded like fun at the moment.

Tony put in a good effort disappearing into the crowd and looking like he really belonged among the dancers, but Steve would be able to find Tony anywhere. When he finally caught up with him, he pulled the omega tightly against his chest and kissed him as the music shifted into a slower tempo. Tony met his eyes, his expression warm and inviting as he stepped closer into Steve's space.

Sadly, they didn't have much time before Tony was called up to the stage to make a speech.

"Show must go on," Tony said with a smirk.

Tony kept his speech short and sweet. Just long enough for a few jokes and an acknowledgment of all the important people taking time out of their busy schedules to help charity. Tony smiled in all the right places, said all the right words, but Steve could see Tony was eager to escape and get back to dancing. He couldn't blame him for that.

As soon as Tony stepped off-stage, he was swarmed by reporters and prominent senators who wanted a photo-op. It looked like Tony was going to be awhile, so Steve headed over to one of the tables to pick up a few cheesecake bites. It would be rude to butt in while Tony was doing his job playing host, but if Tony still couldn't get away in another half hour, he'd make sure Tony at least got a few bites to eat.

At the table, a middle-aged woman cornered him to brag about her mate's successful plastics business. Steve really didn't care. He wasn't here to talk business or politics. He just wanted to spend the night with Tony. He put in just the barest amount of effort listening to the woman's story while he scanned the room to see where Tony had gone off to. He was probably making his round of the room, trying to find his way back to Steve's side.

At least most of the vultures had left him alone now. Steve couldn't see any large crowd of reporters anymore, just groups of people here and there talking with the rest of Tony's guests.

His heart stopped as he spotted Tony by the bar, backing away from a muscular alpha.

In this sea of perfume and cologne, it was hard to pick out Tony's scent, but there was no question that the omega was terrified. His stance was defensive, putting as much distance between him and the alpha as possible. And the alpha kept aggressively stepping closer, forcing Tony to keep backing up further and further.

His jaw clenched. "Excuse me, ma'am. I have business to attend to."

She clutched at the front of his shirt and batted her eyelashes. "Oh, Captain Rogers. Can't you stay a little longer?"

"No," Steve said brusquely.

All he could see was Tony getting backed against the bar, the alpha looming over him.

"Hey!" Steve shouted. "Don't touch him."

Even in this loud, crowded room, his voice carried some distance. The people nearby stopped talking and turned to see what was happening. He pushed past the woman and stormed across the room, not caring who was watching.

The alpha either hadn't heard Steve's shout, or was ignoring him because he was still all over Tony when Steve marched up to him. So he grabbed the man by the shoulder, yanking him away from Tony.

"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded.

"His boyfriend," Steve growled.

"Oh." The man gave him a dismissive once-over. "Being his boyfriend doesn't mean anything these days. An omega is free to sleep with as many people as he wants before bonding."

"And he doesn't want to sleep with you. So back off."

"You don't get to tell me how he feels. Tony and I were getting along so well before you butted in. Weren't we, Tony?"

Tony shuddered and averted his eyes.

"No, don't be afraid. Your boyfriend has no authority here." He smiled and raised his hand towards Tony's neck.

Steve swung, fist connecting with the side of the man's face. He went down hard, taking out a bar stool on the way down.

There were gasps all around him, but Steve ignored them. Tony was the only person who mattered. "You okay?" he asked, hands cupped around Tony's face. "He didn't drug you or anything, did he?" Tony's eyes looked perfectly focused, but that didn't mean the creep hadn't tried to slip him something.

"I'm fine," Tony said. "He didn't actually do anything yet."

"Thank god." He swept Tony into a tight hug.

Tony trembled against him."Is it too much to ask for one birthday without something bad happening?"

"No," Steve said. "It's not."

"I just want to go home," Tony said in a small voice. "Away from all these people. I don't want them to see me like this."

"Of course. I'll carry you to the car." He gathered Tony into his arms and shouldered his way through the crowd.

Tony just buried his face in his chest, hiding from all the camera flashes and open stares.

"We're leaving," Steve barked into the comm. "Out front in five."

Happy had already pulled the car up by the time Steve made it out the doors. Tony got in first and then Steve followed, shielding him from the rest of the camera flashes with his body.

The rest of the team piled in after them, Natasha bringing up the rear, pausing to yell at the cameramen who were thumping on the car windows to demand an interview.

"Assholes," Natasha spat as she slid into her seat. "All they care about is their story."

She looked as angry as Steve felt. Alpha instincts geared up for a fight. Clint had his arms folded across his chest, scowling and Thor's expression was dark. This was pack mentality. Their omega was hurt and they could all sense it, even if they didn't know what had happened.

Tony curled further into Steve's side, shaking with silent sobs.

"Drive, Happy," Steve ordered, his voice sounding rougher than he intended.

They had to get away so Steve could clear his head. Because right now Tony needed love and comfort, not a warrior. And once Steve could bring his own rage under control, the rest of the pack would follow. And then they could just be there for Tony.

He stroked Tony's hair and bent down to kiss the top of his head. "I've got you," he murmured. "You're safe now."

Tony looked up at him, his eyes large and liquid. "If you hadn't gotten there in time, he would have-"

Natasha swore in Russian and Clint stiffened beside her.

"Let's not think about that," Steve said. He cradled Tony against his chest and stroked his back. "You're safe with us. You're safe now."

Bruce was waiting for them at the door when they arrived home. He took one look at all of them and quietly went back inside to move the festive decor out of the den. Bruce really was a treasure. So calm and dependable when they needed him to be.

Steve led Tony over to the couch and sat beside him. The rest of the team took up spots around the room.

"You want something to drink?" Steve asked. "Maybe some water or a cup of tea?"

"Tea," Tony said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I'll take care of it," Bruce said.

On the end table, Tony's cell phone buzzed.

Natasha leaned down to look at the screen. "It's Pepper," she said. "You want to talk to her?"

Tony shook his head.

"Tell her he isn't hurt," Steve said. "Just a little shaken up."

Natasha nodded and stepped into the hallway, quietly talking into the phone.

Steve took Tony's hand in his and gently stroked his thumb over his knuckles. Tony had stopped crying and was just staring vacantly into the distance now. Steve wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad sign, but he vowed to stay with Tony, a quiet, supportive presence.

"I hate being an omega," Tony said finally. "So fucking weak and pathetic."

"You're not weak," Steve said. "You've been very strong."

Tony's mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. "Crying is a sign of strength now, is it?" He laughed bitterly. "I should have known better. This shit always happens to me. Maybe I should have had another drink. Get too drunk to know what was happening. Get it over with while I couldn't feel anything."

"Tony, no," Steve said. "You shouldn't have to feel that way."

Tony snorted and shook his head. "It's the truth. What is an omega good for other than fucking and baby-making? We can't fight, we can't command, and we can't even use our own pathetic weakness to appeal for mercy. We're hard-wired to be beaten down and taken advantage of, and maybe if all the other packs finally come to their senses and realize what a burden we all are, omegas as a whole can die out."

"I will not abide this sort of talk," Thor said in an outraged tone. "We shall continue to come to your aid as long as we draw breath. Never shall we leave a comrade to suffer."

"It's a stupid impulse," Tony said through clenched teeth. "I have nothing to offer this pack and still you all feel obligated to protect me."

"You offer us all a great deal. A home, companionship, friendship."

"Are you all really that desperate for a place to live that you'll shack up with anyone?"

Thor looked like he had another indignant response, but this really wasn't the time to argue with Tony. He was scared and hurt and just lashing out irrationally.

"Enough, Thor," Steve said. "Tony, come with me. I want to show you something."

Tony huffed, still looking angry and unsettled, but he followed Steve up to his floor without another argument.

Steve opened the door to the baby's room and motioned for Tony to step inside.

Tony lingered in the doorway, eyes wide as he scanned the entire room. "Did you really do all this today?"

Steve stuck his hands in his pockets. "It was supposed to be your birthday present. And now I really wish I had gotten something just for you instead. After all you've gone through tonight, I'm sure you could really use-"

Tony threw his arms around him and buried his face in his chest. "Oh, Steve," he said. "It's perfect. Now the baby really belongs here."

"So do you," Steve said softly. He squeezed Tony's shoulder. "We need you. On the team, in the pack. You're not a burden and you're not an obligation. You're a hero Tony. That means you're just as important as the rest of us."

Tony made a dismissive sound and Steve cupped his hands around Tony's head, forcing him to look into his eyes. "I know what it's like to feel weak. If it wasn't for the serum, I'd have died getting my ass kicked in some alleyway because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Bucky always had to step in and save me from myself and I hated that. Hated that I had to be rescued by an omega when alphas were supposed to be so much stronger. But it's inner strength that really matters."

"Of course you can say that now," Tony muttered. "Now that you're all muscles."

"The muscles help," Steve said. "But they didn't get me into that Hydra base. I did. Because I was bound and determined to do what everyone else said couldn't be done. In case you haven't realized, Tony, I'm a little stubborn." He paused to allow Tony's derisive snort. "Yeah, I'm a stubborn son of a bitch who doesn't know when to quit. It's what's kept me alive all these years when I should have died of disease. It's what got me into Project Rebirth. And it's what's gonna keep me fighting for you even when you can't fight for yourself. I don't give up on anyone, Tony. I'm going to be there for you, even if I die trying."

"Don't talk like that," Tony said sharply. "I'm just an omega. But you're our leader, our alpha. We can't afford to lose you."

"If you ask me," Steve said, "maybe alphas should be the ones dying off. Because all I've seen these days is fighting, rioting, brawling, assault. Alphas are supposed to protect the omegas, but it seems like if there were no alphas, there'd be nothing to protect them from."

"Don't be ridiculous," Tony murmured. "A world without Captain America is a world I don't want to live in."

"So is a world without Tony Stark."

Tony eyed him. "You really are stubborn, aren't you?"

"The stubbornest," Steve assured him with a grin. He leaned in to press a chaste kiss to Tony's lips. "I'm not going to let the bad guys win."

Tony's mouth curved into a half smile. "Now I understand how you convinced all those poor saps to go into battle with you. You give one hell of a speech, Steve."

It was so good to see Tony smile again, if it was just a hint of one. Steve was happy for any sign of recovery he could get.


	15. Chapter 15

Steve found himself summoned to Fury's office the next morning.

He was loathe to leave Tony's side at such a vulnerable time, especially after Tony woke up twice in the middle of the night shouting and thrashing until Steve could hold him and soothe him. But the others were ready and willing to be there in his stead. Natasha had taken the baby out for her walk so he and Tony wouldn't have to face the inevitable paparazzi swarm, Bruce and Thor were working on a special breakfast for Tony, and Clint was in the den with him, watching one of the cheesy action movies that only they could ever stand.

So he was pretty sure Tony would be okay for a few hours while he had a talk with Fury.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Fury said as soon as he stepped into his office.

Steve's mouth twitched. Straight down to business. He admired that.

"I was thinking about saving my boyfriend from rape," he said firmly, meeting Fury's gaze head-on.

Fury leaned back in his chair. "I've watched the footage. Nothing happening except Senator Haberman chatting up your boy. So what it looks like is a jealous boyfriend with a temper. Not exactly what the public wants in a hero."

"I don't care what it looks like," Steve hissed. "I'll tell you what it is. Tony didn't want anything to do with that man, but he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Fury steepled his fingers."In case you hadn't noticed, SHIELD hasn't been too popular after that Project Insight mess. Plenty of people in Congress would like to shut us down permanently. Senator Haberman is one of the few supporters we have right now."

Steve's jaw dropped. "So, you're saying I should have let him rape Tony for the good of SHIELD?"

"I didn't say anything of the sort."

"It was implied."

Fury squeezed his eye shut. "I'm saying you should have worked things out differently. Did you really have to punch him?"

"Yes."

Fury shook his head. "I sure hope it was worth it. The senator's been demanding an apology."

"I'm not apologizing for saving my boyfriend from that creep. I'm glad I punched him and I'd do it again. Seems like he needs another smack upside the head if he didn't learn his lesson the first time."

Fury eyed him. "You'll have to make some sort of statement, you know. You can't just go around punching civilians and expect the whole thing to go away." He motioned towards the doorway and Coulson stepped into the office. "The two of you will need to work out something to say to the press. Can't have Captain America coming off as a hothead."

"Absolutely not, sir," Coulson said. "Captain Rogers, I'd be honored to work with you. As you might be aware, I've written up a majority of your speeches for press conferences. It'll be nice to have a chance to work on this one with your input."

"Could we do this back at the Tower?" Steve said. He didn't want to be away from Tony any longer than he had to.

"Of course," Coulson said. "Wherever you'd be comfortable working."

Steve walked back out of SHIELD's offices, Coulson following closely behind. He was taken off-guard by the bright flashes of what seemed like a hundred cameras as soon as he exited the building.

"Captain Rogers, could you give us a comment on last night's events?"

"No comment," Steve said, shielding his eyes so he could see the path to the parking lot.

"Captain Rogers, how can you explain striking an innocent man?"

Steve came to a halt. "An innocent man," he repeated. "Is that really what you all think? Let me tell you, Mr. Haberman is far from innocent."

"Captain, this isn't the place for this," Coulson said into his ear.

But Steve couldn't stop. The floodgates were open and all his frustration was pouring out at once.

"As far as I'm concerned, the senator is scum. What kind of alpha tries to rape an omega on his birthday?"

There was only the sound now of reporters frantically scribbling in their notebooks. Steve could see the headlines now, "Captain America Accuses Prominent Senator of Rape, Senator Sues for Defamation of Character". The shitshow was just starting.

"Maybe I shouldn't have punched him," Steve allowed. "But I damn well wasn't going to just stand there and let him have his way with my boyfriend. Tony's an omega, but that doesn't give anybody else the right to decide what he does with his body. He told the senator no, and that should have been the end of it for any decent person. But Mr. Haberman didn't want to take no for an answer. He wanted to manipulate Tony into sleeping with him through his gland. I had to do something. And if I get arrested for assault or sued for the senator's medical bills, so be it. At least I stood up for what was right."

He took a deep breath and shouldered through the reporters. "So much for the speech you'd planned," he said.

Poor Coulson had probably planned for him to make a much more dignified statement. Something that would start with him apologizing for causing a scene, taking responsibility for his actions, and then calmly explaining why it had been necessary. Something that would have stopped all the talk about his temper.

Well, that plan was shot to hell now.

Coulson smiled faintly. "That's okay. I'm sure it was better than anything I could have written."

"You're welcome to visit us back at the Tower anyway."

Coulson hesitated for just a moment. "Maybe some other time," he said at last. "It sounds like you and the team need some time alone as a pack right now."

"You are part of our extended pack," Steve reminded him.

"Thank you," Coulson said. "I'll try to stop by sometime this week."

Steve felt a little better as he climbed back onto his motorcycle. It had been hard to stomach the fact that the senator was out there making himself look like the victim. But now the truth was out there. People were free to believe whatever they wanted to believe, but at least Steve had said his piece.

Steve went immediately to the common floor when he arrived and poked his head into the den. Natasha and Bruce were the only ones there, watching some kind of nature documentary. "Hi, guys," Steve said. "I'm back from my lecture. Where's Tony?"

"I'd give Tony some space right now," Natasha cautioned. "He's seen the news."

"Rogers," Tony barked from the kitchen. "Get your ass in here right now."

Steve winced.

"Good luck," Bruce said with a sympathetic smile.

In the kitchen, Tony was sitting on one of the bar stools, arms crossed over his chest and scowling. "The hell were you thinking?" he bit out. "I don't want my business shared with the whole damn public."

"I'm sorry, but that asshole was demanding an apology and I just couldn't take it."

Tony shook his head. "You should have just sucked it up and apologized. Keep everyone happy."

Steve's jaw dropped. "You actually want me to apologize? You know what that means, don't you? Having to make a speech about how the senator is actually a wonderful person and I was totally mistaken about him and the two of us taking a damn photo-op with him. Is that really what you want?"

"Yes," Tony hissed.

"Why? I'd think you'd never want to be in the same room with the guy again. If this is about what SHIELD wants, I know you've never given a damn what Fury-"

"You don't get it, Steve," Tony interrupted. "I'm going to lose everything. I've worked so hard to prove that I can be a good CEO, even as an omega. But once it gets out that I'm helpless without you, no one's going to want me running the company anymore. And it'll kill me if I get kicked out of my own company."

"That's not going to happen."

"Like hell it's not," Tony said fiercely. "I've learned a long time ago that the board of directors is just itching to find a way to bench me. I was too young, too omega-y to run a company. I had to fight for everything I've had. My playboy image helps people forget that I'm a fragile omega."

Steve put a hand over his mouth. "My god, all those other alphas."

"Yes," Tony said. "I had to let everyone believe I wanted to fuck all those assholes. Let the tabloids talk about what a scamp I am, taking all those alphas home with me. It sucks, but it's better to be a villain than a victim."

"Tony, no," Steve said. "We have to make this right."

"Right and wrong doesn't exist in the business world. There's only strength and weakness. And if you start showing weakness, your competitors will swallow you up and your employees will turn on you."

"Guys, guys, you have to see this," Clint called urgently.

Steve sighed and padded back into the den. "What is it now?"

Clint just pointed at the TV.

"-has come forward with allegations against Senator Haberman," the news anchor said solemnly.

The screen switched to footage of a trembling woman standing next to an alpha who was probably her mate. "I was just so ashamed," she said quietly. "I thought it had to be my fault somehow."

The alpha rubbed her shoulder and whispered a few words of encouragement to her.

She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "But as I was watching the news coverage of Mr. Stark's charity gala, I could see the same thing happening to him that happened to me. And I realized it was never my fault I was assaulted and it's not Mr. Stark's fault either. Senator Haberman used our bodies against us and he should be the one to feel ashamed of himself."

The screen flashed back to the news desk. "We have word that two other omegas have come forward against the senator, both mates of prominent defense contractors who say they were sexually assaulted at last year's military ball."

Tony stared at the TV with wide eyes. "My god," he said.

"You're not alone," Steve said. "There are other omegas suffering just like you. It just takes one person's story to give the rest the courage to speak out."

Tony's phone buzzed on the end table and Natasha looked over at it."CNN's calling about an interview," she reported.

"You don't have to do it," Steve said. "There's already more than enough people coming forward to nail this creep."

Tony shook his head. "No, you're right. If I set an example, others will be likely to come forward. Just think how much good I could have done if I had reported all those alphas in the past. But because I kept my mouth shut, they probably went on to prey on other omegas."

"It's not your fault," Steve said firmly. "It's all on him and the rest of his ilk."

"Still," Tony said with a sigh, "I hate to think how selfish I've been."

"You're not selfish," Steve said. "You're the most kindhearted, loving, and generous person I've ever had the privilege of knowing. And it's understandable that you've been trying to protect yourself when it seemed like no one else would be there for you. But you have us now. And we're always going to be on your side."

"Hell yes," Clint said. "Next time someone fucks with you, Nat'll slice his balls off."

Natasha smiled.

"No jury would ever convict us," Clint said proudly.

"Let's not do anything that drastic," Steve said quickly.

Tony started smiling as Clint declared that he would gather up the rest of the Avengers and storm company headquarters if Tony ever got replaced as CEO. Steve would have to talk them out of that plan if it ever came down to it, but it was good for Tony to see how strongly the pack felt on his behalf.

"Better get this interview out of the way," Tony said with a sigh.

"I'll come with you if you need moral support."

Tony shook his head. "It'll be easier if I don't have to look at your face when I'm talking about all the awfulness. Because I know you'll be horrified and if I see Captain America start falling apart, I might cry."

Steve patted Tony's shoulder. "We'll watch it on TV tonight then. Because we all want to be there for you, even from a distance."

Tony allowed Steve to pull him into a brief hug. "Thanks, babe. I'll be back soon."

Steve settled himself between Bruce and Clint as they argued over what to watch next. Clint wanted to watch a cheesy action movie and Bruce maintained that since he had been there before Clint, if he wanted to watch another documentary about conservation, it was his right.

"Shut up, both of you," Natasha said. "We'll see what else is going on in the news."

News it was, they all agreed.

Steve's attention drifted as the lives of various celebrities were dissected. It was hardly news, he thought. But apparently so-and-so had crashed his car on a freeway and a lane had to be closed down while they got the car out of there. And that gave the news people the chance to bring up every other celebrity who had been in a car crash in the last five years. It was boring stuff.

"Is this really what you wanted to watch?" Clint asked scornfully.

"I thought there would be a car chase," Natasha said with a sigh. "I love those."

"There has to be some other newsworthy events in the world," Bruce muttered. He reached for the remote and flicked to another news channel.

"-to shed light on this troubling issue. We'll talk to Mr. Stark in just a moment." And then it cut to commercial.

Steve sat up straighter. "They're doing this live?" he asked incredulously. He had hoped that the news crew would at least give Tony a few minutes to collect his thoughts and decide what he wanted to say, instead of just springing questions on him like a normal press conference.

Clint checked his watch. "Not exactly. Stark's been gone over an hour. But maybe, with all the time people need for hair and makeup and all that shit-"

Thor wandered in, the baby balanced on one hip. "Have any of you seen friend Tony? I was certain he would like to have a say in her attire for the day, but he has not been by to give me his input, so I have made do on my own."

Natasha took the baby in her arms and looked over all the snaps. "You did just fine, Thor. Tony would be proud."

"Ah," Thor said. "Tony is being televised."

Steve's attention whipped back to the screen. The news anchor was still directly addressing the viewers, but in the little corner in the top screen, Tony's picture was shown to advertise what was coming up in just a few moments.

"I hate this," Clint growled. "It's going to be another hour before we actually get to the interview. First they're going to talk about weather and traffic and some food recall and a some stupid story about an animal stuck up a tree. And after we all get tired of their shit and turn our TVs off, then they decide to show the stuff that really matters."

"We're not turning the TV off," Steve said firmly. "We promised we'd all be here for Tony."

"-an insightful interview into the life of the world's most famous omega," the anchor declared.

The shot of the studio transitioned to what could almost be a living room, lit with softer colors than the bright studio lights. Tony was sitting in a plush green armchair across from a blond woman with a notepad.

Natasha sucked in a breath. "Christine Everheart? This could be a disaster."

"Why?"

"They have history together."

"One night stand," Clint supplied. "But she's never been his biggest fan anyway. From what I hear, she went after Tony's company a few years back for supplying weapons to terrorists. It wasn't Tony, it was his business partner Obadiah Stane. But still, not the person Tony wants conducting the interview. It's probably going to turn into an interrogation if she's calling the shots."

"Poor Tony," Steve said. "I should have gone with him." Tony had been so brave to be willing to make a public statement, and now the media was going to make him pay for his courage. It just wasn't fair.

"Thank you for being here, Mr. Stark," Christine said with a frosty smile. "From some of the reports I've read, you were very lucky that Captain Rogers was there."

"Absolutely," Tony agreed. "I got lucky this time."

Steve could see the moment Christine realized there was another avenue to the story and decided to pursue that instead.

"This time," she repeated, her pen poised over her notepad. "You've been assaulted before?"

"Oh yes," Tony said. "All the time in college. That was back in the day, you understand, when everyone still thought all omegas should be home with children or working as nurses or something. And I was going for my engineering degree. The alphas in my classes kept teasing me and telling me to go back to home ec because engineering was way too hard for an omega to understand. Until I got a perfect score on the first test and some of them failed."

Tony drew in on himself. "In hindsight, I should have known that none of them really wanted a study buddy. They just wanted to get me alone so they could put me in my place. But I was young and stupid and I desperately wanted to make friends. After I had to walk back to my dorm in my underwear, I decided friends were overrated."

Christine scribbled a note onto her paper. "And what happened to those alphas who assaulted you?"

"Nothing," Tony said with a bitter laugh. "I mean, who was going to help me? All the other omegas in my dorm hated me and thought I was acting too good for them because I wasn't taking typical omega classes. If I told them I was raped, they'd probably think I deserved it. And when I called my dad, he told me that Stark men didn't get raped so somewhere deep down I must have wanted it."

"That bastard," Steve said under his breath. He clenched and unclenched his fists at his side.

"It's terrible," Tony said. "Your own body betrays you and you just go limp. And then you think, maybe they were right. Maybe you did want this. Because if you really didn't want to sleep with those alphas, you should have been able to fight them off."

"Tony, no," Steve hissed at the screen.

"A great injustice has been done," Thor declared. "How dare your legal system outright reject a victim's words."

Natasha started quietly explaining to Thor how Tony had never gone to the police so no charges had ever been filed. But Steve suspected Thor was probably right. There were probably betas and alphas in the courts who didn't really understand how an omega's biology worked, well-meaning people who just didn't want to believe such a heinous breach of trust was possible.

"-and then you find yourself doubting everyone around you. You try and keep your distance from people, avoid all your alpha friends. Pretty soon you're pushing away all the people who want to help you. And when you're alone and vulnerable, you get taken advantage of again."

Steve squeezed his eyes shut. It was hard to believe that in seventy years, progress for omega rights had gone backwards. In the forties, omegas weren't supposed to join the military. Now they could, but any omega like Bucky, who could kick more ass than some alphas, would probably end up getting raped because there were alphas out there who believed in "putting them in their place". It made him sick.

A door slammed in the distance and a few moments later, Tony wandered into the den. "Sorry it took so long, guys. Happy insisted on taking me out to lunch afterward. So, what are we-" He froze as he looked at the screen. "Oh god, you're watching it right now. I'll just be, uh, somewhere else."

Steve surged up from the couch and gathered Tony into a tight embrace. "Oh baby, I'm so proud of you."

Tony melted into him. "It's one of the hardest things I've ever done," he whispered. "And I've been threatened by terrorists."

Steve kissed the top of his head. "It's never easy to admit when we're hurt. But you'll learn that most people respect that."

Tony nodded. "After we were finished, she actually hugged me. Christine Everheart, of all people. She's never had a good thing to say about me after I had Pepper kick her out after an, uh, brief tryst."

"That's good," Steve said. "She understands why you did it now. You were too afraid of anyone getting close to you."

"Being raped isn't an excuse to be a dick to everybody else."

"No," Steve said. "But you know some good people who are willing to see past the occasional dickishness to the loving omega underneath."


	16. Chapter 16

Sadly, Steve knew that Tony's interview wasn't going to be the end of the matter. This was probably the biggest scandal in the news right now and everyone would be talking about it for days, weeks, months afterward. And Tony really didn't need to be subjected to all that scrutiny right now, didn't need to see journalists arguing over whether or not Tony's allegations were true or whether he was exaggerating in order to gain more sympathy.

So Steve decided they were all going to stay away from the news channels for the next few days, to spare Tony from the worst of it. Of course he would still hear it whenever they went out and were swarmed by paparazzi, but Steve would protect Tony as much as he could. Tony needed love and support, not hearing that people thought he was a liar.

"Anybody wants to watch anything the rest of the day, it's going to be a movie," Steve declared. "And Tony gets first pick."

"You don't have to patronize me," Tony muttered. "There's six of us. I don't need to be deciding what we all watch."

"I said you get first pick," Steve said. "Not the only pick. Natasha goes next."

"Oh," Tony said, relaxing a little. "I want to watch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Bruce scooted over a little so Tony could sit next to Steve. Tony immediately leaned into his side and Steve spent the entire movie gently stroking Tony's hair, pleased as the genius relaxed further and further into the touch. It wasn't the powerful, instant comfort that came with an omega gland, but there was something soothing in the repetitive motion, even for Steve.

Halfway into Natasha's pick of Lethal Weapon, Jarvis announced, "Miss Potts is here."

Tony jerked upright. "Tell her I'm busy."

"I'm sorry, sir, but she insists."

Tony rose from the couch and smoothed back his hair, as if he hadn't spent the last three hours pressed into Steve's side. "Send her in, then. I'm ready to meet the firing squad."

Pepper marched into the den, her eyes red-rimmed and her expression murderous.

"Pepper," Tony said with a nervous smile. "So good to see you."

Pepper grasped his shoulders. "I can't believe you," she said. "All those years and you never told me anything. I had to hear about it on the news like a total stranger."

Tony winced. "I wanted to tell you. I mean, I thought about telling you. I just didn't-"

"-all those times I yelled at you for sleeping around. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Pepper, honey, it's no big deal. I know you didn't-"

"It is a big deal! I care about you. And you would know that if you ever talked to me when things happened instead of keeping it to yourself until you're dying and falling apart and and..."

Steve cleared his throat.

Pepper took a deep breath. "Well," she said with a sniffle. "I'm glad you're spending time with your team. Because you need to to spend time with other people even if you're not talking to me."

"Pepper, darling, I'm not-"

Pepper gave him a stern look. "And you'll be spending a lot more time with them because the board voted for having you take a week of medical leave."

"What did I tell you?" Tony said with a glare in Steve's direction. "Already kicking me out of my own company."

"Nobody's kicking you out," Pepper hissed. "You need time to go see a doctor."

"No I don't. He didn't touch me. And if you're suggesting I should see a psychiatrist, the answer is also no. I go to Bruce whenever I need to talk through stuff."

"Don't bring me into this," Bruce muttered under his breath.

Steve put a hand on Pepper's shoulder. "It was very nice to see you, Miss Potts. But perhaps we can have this discussion again when we're not all so emotional."

"Fine," Pepper said. "But remember, Tony, mandatory medical leave. No work projects, no interviews, and no setting foot in the building."

"Yes, yes, yes," Tony said with an eyeroll.

Pepper stopped in the doorway. "Just try to take it easy for the week, okay? I know you never listen to me, but you need time to recover, even if he didn't actually touch you. I know how many nightmares you had after New York and-"

"Goodbye, Pepper," Tony said loudly.

She huffed and crossed her arms over his chest. "Promise me you'll make him take it easy," she said with a sidelong glance at the team.

"We'll try," Natasha said.

"Good, good." Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know what else to do."

"We'll take care of him," Steve assured her. He walked Pepper to the door and promised to keep her updated on how Tony was doing.

Tony exhaled. "Thank god," he said. "Thought she'd never leave."

"She does have a point," Clint said. "You really should have told her years ago."

Tony scowled. "What was I supposed to say? 'Hi, I'm Tony Stark. I was raped six times in college. Want to be my personal assistant?' Oh yes, that would have gone over well."

"I mean afterward," Clint said. "Telling her the truth instead of letting her yell at you. Because what good are friends if they can't be there for you when you're hurting."

Tony sighed. "I know, I know. I'll tell people next time. Because people thinking I cheated on Steve is worse than having them know I was raped."

Steve sighed and pulled Tony back down onto the couch with him. "Honey, we need to work on your priorities."

Tony dropped his head into Steve's lap. "My priorities are just fine. I love you and the team more than I love my company. So if I get replaced as CEO, I'll just make stuff for you guys. I won't have as many resources without backing from SI, but I've got all the stuff down in my lab and if I do some consulting work here and there I could make a lot of-"

Steve put a hand over Tony's mouth. "You're not getting kicked out of your company. We've already gone over this."

"Let's just finish the rest of this movie," Natasha said. "We can have this talk later."

"Okay," Tony said agreeably. "After the movie."

There was only about an hour left of the movie, and with Tony as worked up as he was, Steve fully expected him to be ready to jump right back into the discussion of losing his company. But within a few minutes, Tony had started yawning and snuggling further into his lap. By the time the credits were rolling, he was fast asleep.

Steve wasn't that surprised. Yesterday had been a long day for Tony, spending all that energy preparing for the disastrous charity gala. And after all the nightmares and worrying about his company, Tony had just worn himself out. But Steve knew Tony was capable of working his way through exhaustion. So the fact that Tony was willing to take a nap meant that he had to be feeling at least a little more optimistic that things would work out.

"I hope you realize what a lucky man you are," Natasha said quietly.

"I do." Steve stroked Tony's hair, smiling as the genius leaned into the touch. "He's beautiful like this, isn't he?"

Natasha patted his shoulder. "We'll look after everything else. Just stay with Tony for now." She rose and gestured for the rest of the team to follow.

"Come find me whenever he gets up," Bruce said. "I'll make sure he gets something even if he sleeps through dinner."

That sounded good to Steve. He could use a few hours being nothing more than Tony's pillow.

But Tony started stirring after only twenty minutes. He yawned and blinked a few times, but his eyes stayed half-lidded. "What time is it?" he asked drowsily.

"A little after three."

Tony sighed and sat up. "Time to feed the baby," he muttered.

Steve put his arms around him. "The others can take care of her," he said. "Go back to sleep."

"But I wanna nurse her," Tony mumbled.

"Babe, you're half-asleep."

"So? I just have to sit here and be food. The baby does the rest of the work."

Steve regarded him dubiously. He was sure nursing was a lot more complicated than Tony made it out to be.

Tony huffed. "I like nursing, okay? It's nice and relaxing. And when I don't nurse as often my nipples hurt."

Steve relented. "Jarvis, can you-"

"Of course, Captain Rogers," Jarvis said smoothly. "I will alert Agent Romanov."

"Thanks, Steve," Tony murmured into Steve's chest as he sagged back against him.

Natasha walked in a minute later with the baby in her arms and raised an eyebrow at the scene.

"Tony insisted on seeing the baby," Steve said.

Tony raised his head and held out his arms for the baby. "How's my girl?" he asked with a sleepy smile.

"We fed her a little baby yogurt," Natasha said. "She seemed to like the pear flavor."

"That's good," Tony said. He suppressed a yawn and gently rocked the baby.

Natasha lingered in the doorway, carefully watching Tony's interaction with the baby as if she expected him to keel over at any moment. Not that Steve wasn't expecting the same thing.

"We've got it for now," Steve said with a reassuring smile. "I'll have Jarvis call you when he's done with her."

Natasha nodded and disappeared back down the hallway.

Tony shifted his position a little so he was sitting up, propped back against Steve's chest. "My darling," he cooed at the baby. "I bet Natasha and the others did a real good job feeding you afternoon snack, but I know you still need Mama's milk."

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and rested his chin on top of Tony's head. "You're so good at this," he murmured.

Tony turned his head so Steve could see his smile. It was tentative as if Tony didn't quite believe him, but really hoped it was true.

"Such a wonderful mother," Steve said, pressing a kiss to Tony's cheek.

Tony ducked his head and nuzzled the baby. "C'mere, sweetheart," he said, lifting her to his chest.

With a little squirming, the baby settled in to nurse and Tony's eyes slid shut, his expression relaxing. "Ah, that's better," he said. "What a relief."

Steve just stroked Tony's back and whispered to him how wonderful he was, how good he was with the baby, how much he loved him. Anything he thought Tony needed or wanted to hear.

After fifteen minutes, Tony opened one eye."You can have Nat take her now," he murmured. "She's done."

"Uh, are you sure?" Steve asked. The baby was still latched on to Tony's chest.

"Yep," Tony said. "She's just comfort sucking. Not really drinking anymore, just wants to keep sucking. I'd let her, but god, I'm tired and I just can't...can't..." His eyelids fluttered.

"Hey, no," Steve said. "You need to take care of yourself first. That's what pacifiers are for. Jarvis, can you get me Natasha, please?"

"Right away, Captain Rogers."

Tony's head lolled to one side and he jerked back upright. "Just give me a few minutes," he muttered. "Just gotta get a little rest and then I'll be okay."

"Let Natasha take care of it," Steve said. "She's on the way."

"Oh good." Tony yawned widely and gently eased the baby off his chest. There was mild fussing and Tony rocked her in his arms. "Sorry, sweetheart. Mama's gotta take a little nap." His head started to droop again.

Natasha pushed in through the doorway, her expression soft as she watched Tony nod off and catch himself. "Hey, Tony," she said quietly. "I'll take over from here."

Tony's grip slackened and she eased the baby out of his arms.

"She just ate," Tony said, his eyes open only a slit.

"I figured," Natasha said. "I'll burp her in a moment."

Steve eased Tony back down onto the couch. "Get some rest," he said quietly. "You can't take care of the baby if you don't take care of yourself."

Tony laced his hands over the back of Steve's neck. "Stay," he whispered.

"Always," Steve whispered back. He let Tony pull him down onto the couch beside him.

"I love you," Tony said. His eyes were tired, but his smile was bright.

Steve wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of Tony's head. "Sleep tight, love."

Tony's eyes slid shut, his face still alight with his wide, happy smile.

Steve just cradled Tony securely in the crook of his body. Tony was so strong and resilient to be able to find happiness after all the terrible things that he had suffered through. And Steve was determined to protect that happiness with his life.


	17. Chapter 17

Steve hadn't meant to fall asleep. He just wanted to stay with Tony and look after him, be a comforting presence for him while he slept. But all those hours of alpha-rage must have taken a lot out of him. Or maybe Tony's gentle breathing had soothed him to sleep. How very omega of him. Taking care of Steve even while he was asleep.

The couch wasn't as comfortable as a real bed and Steve was already feeling the stiffness from curling his large body into the couch's confines. But Tony was still sleeping contentedly at his side, using Steve's chest as a pillow. And Steve didn't have the heart to wake him.

"Jarvis, what time is it?" he asked quietly.

"It is currently 6:45 p.m., Captain Rogers."

So they had both missed dinner. But that was okay, because Bruce would save them some leftovers.

Steve threaded his fingers through Tony's hair and gently massaged his scalp, smiling as Tony snuggled further into his chest. It felt so good to take care of Tony for a change. Tony was so good at taking care of everyone else and putting the pack's needs first, but he deserved a chance to relax and let someone else look after him for awhile. And Steve felt it was only right for him to take on that role.

As an alpha, it was his duty to protect his pack and look after the omega, while the omega cared for the pack and took care of the household. At least that was how it had been in Steve's day. Nowadays, everyone seemed to have forgotten how an alpha and omega were both in their own ways the leaders of the pack. But anyone with sense should have been able to see that a pack always functioned at its best when the omega was happy and well invested in his role.

Since Tony was his boyfriend, Steve's desire to look after him wasn't just for pack harmony. He loved him and wanted to do everything he could to be a supportive partner to him. He wanted to protect, cherish, love, appreciate, comfort, and just make sure Tony had the warm, loving family environment he never had as a child.

He was a little surprised to admit to himself just how passionately he felt about Tony, but this was the man that he hoped to one day make his mate. To bond with for the rest of his life.

Deep passion was a good thing.

Tony stirred as Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Well, this is a nice wake-up call," he purred.

Steve chuckled. "You seem nice and alert again."

"Thanks to you," Tony said. He pulled Steve down for a kiss on the lips. "Mmm, if this was the way I got woken up every day, I'd never bitch about late-night emergencies ever again."

Steve nuzzled Tony's neck. "You feel up for dinner yet?"

"Oh, if only I had the strength to get up off this couch," Tony said, dramatically flinging a hand up to his face. "But I'm so weak and faint with hunger that I can't even move." He peered at Steve through his splayed fingers.

Steve snorted. "All you had to do was ask, babe." He hoisted Tony into his arms, grinning as Tony beamed and wrapped his arms around his neck.

In the kitchen, Steve found Clint putting food in the fridge, Natasha and Bruce washing the last of the dishes and Thor sitting on the floor, bouncing the baby on his lap.

"Hey there," Clint said. "I was wondering when you two would drag yourselves downstairs. Looking for food or Advil? Because I saw you two sleeping and that did not look comfortable at all."

"Just food, thanks," Steve said. He frowned. "Why were you watching us sleep anyway?"

Clint shrugged. "Just checking up. You two were in there for awhile." His eyes flicked between them no doubt looking for some sign as to how Tony was feeling and why Steve had fallen asleep too.

"We're fine," Steve said. "It was just a much-needed rest."

"And now for the much needed food," Tony said. "I'm so hungry I could eat a whole baby." He leaned down and covered the giggling baby in kisses. "Oh yes, I could just eat you right up."

"Indeed," Thor said. "She is the size of one of your festive hams."

Tony gasped in mock outrage. "You're comparing my beautiful baby girl to a pig?"

"I could compare her to a fowl if you wish," Thor said cheerfully. "Although such creatures seem to be far noisier than this little one."

Steve steered Tony back over to the fridge. "Let Thor handle her. We need to get you fed."

"There's leftover spaghetti or lasagna," Bruce offered.

"Italian night," Tony said delightedly. "That's my-"

"-favorite," Bruce finished with a smile. "We know."

"Aww, Brucey," Tony said. "You shouldn't have."

Bruce shrugged. "I know we didn't get to really celebrate your birthday yesterday, so I figured we should do something special for you today."

"And we all have presents for you if you're feeling up to opening them," Clint said.

"Heck yes. I'm always up for presents."

As Tony wolfed down his spaghetti, everyone disappeared to grab their presents. Steve took the precaution of putting the baby in her playpen in the den, just in case any of the gifts happened to be breakable.

Clint was the first one back. "This one's from me," he said, dropping a bundle of pink cloth tied up with a bow into Tony's lap.

Natasha groaned. "Tell me you didn't actually get him that 'Hot Mama' shirt."

"Sure did," Clint said proudly.

Tony grinned as he held up the t-shirt for everyone to see. "Dude, this is the best. Where were you when I was a kid?"

Steve was horrified. "You never got presents as a child?"

"Oh, I got presents. But they were always really practical things, like a new book of French lessons or a big pile of material I was expected to make something out of by the end of the day. I would have killed for a t-shirt back then."

"That's terrible," Steve said.

Tony shrugged. "I guess it all paid off in the end. All that training shaped me into a genius. What would a t-shirt have gotten me?"

"Happiness."

Tony looked wistfully at the shirt. "I don't get to be happy," he said. "Because every time I think life's going great, that's when everything starts going really, really sideways. I start working on clean energy and feeling good about not making weapons anymore, and the press chews me out and my business partner tries to kill me. The year I try dating Pepper, I have panic attacks, my arc reactor poisons me, the Mandarin tries to kill me, and we end up arguing so much we can't live together anymore. I decide to be responsible for once and try hard to give Stephy everything she needs and people threaten to call Child Protective Services on me. And when all I want is to fucking celebrate my birthday, I almost get raped." Tony pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes. "I don't get to have nice things."

"You have me," Steve said. "And I'm not leaving you no matter what happens."

"I as well," Thor said. "We are a team, a pack, and nigh close to a family."

"I don't think I want to be adopted into your family," Tony muttered. "Look how Loki turned out."

Thor pulled Tony into a crushing embrace. "I will not make the same mistakes with you as I have made with my brother."

"Yeah, you're stuck with us," Clint said cheerfully. "We've seen you laughing, we've seen you crying, we've seen you puking your guts out after you drank that thing of expired milk. And since we didn't all run off screaming after that, nothing's going to phase us now. We're set for life."

Tony rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it."

Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. "We're a pack. And pack bonds can run deeper than family. None of us got to choose our families, but we all chose to live together as a pack. Which means we all want to be here with you." She pressed a digital photo frame into his hands. "And any time you start to doubt that, just look at all of our smiling faces."

Steve leaned in to look as Tony scrolled through the pictures. There was one of him and Tony curled up together on the couch and another of everybody packed up for the picnic. The rest of the pictures could have been taken on any number of days. There were Clint, Tony, and Thor playing Wii, Bruce and Tony working on a project in the lab, Natasha feeding the baby while Tony looked on, everyone sitting down to dinner together. They were just images of everyday life at the Tower. But they were exactly what Tony needed to see. It was so easy for Tony to remember only the big, traumatic events. But there were so many happy little moments in between.

"Thanks, Nat," Tony said quietly.

"And again, I'm not a doctor," Bruce said. "But I've done a little research and I've found a few herbs and supplements that will promote healthy lactation, ease heat cramps, and might help make your heats a little more regular."

Tony smiled sadly. "Thanks, Bruce, but you can't help with my heats. I need years of hormone therapy and possibly surgery."

"I'm not saying these things will restore your heats to full potency. But it might regulate them a little better so maybe you'll get one mild heat every six months or so. It might be easier on you than having a sudden heat with no warning."

Tony shrugged. "Worth a shot, I guess."

"I too have brought you a gift," Thor said. "Now that you and the captain are sharing quarters, I thought you might like to have some say in the decoration. This sculpture shall help make the room feel like your own."

"Good point," Tony said. He slid off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box just enough to peer inside. "Uhh," he said. He shut the lid and gave Thor a suspicious look. "What are you trying to say with this?"

Thor frowned. "You do not approve? Apologies, my friend. I was sure you might like something colorful and festive for your abode."

Tony made a choked sound halfway between a laugh and a snort. "Colorful and festive," he squeaked out. "It sure is." He took a deep breath and eyed Thor carefully. "You're not bullshitting me, are you? Because you're maybe a little too good at playing innocent when you want to be."

"Nay," Thor said. "I would never attempt to knowingly give you a gift you would dislike. I really do apologize for my error in judgment."

Tony coughed. "It's not that I don't like it. It's just, how do I put this delicately...not really a decorative thing."

"It is indeed. Did you not see its sturdy base? It can easily be placed wherever you wish."

"Thor," Tony said firmly. "I don't want to decorate Steve's room with a jewel-encrusted dildo."

Clint snickered. "Oh my god, really?"

Tony passed him the box and Clint laughed harder. "Where the hell were you shopping?"

Clint passed the box to Bruce who took one look inside, shook his head, and passed it on to Steve.

Thor crossed his arms over his chest. "It was a very nice establishment in the mall. One with a great deal of colorful merchandise perfect for celebrations and many interesting and unique pieces of art."

"Dude, Spencer's carries dildos? That's awesome."

"It's definitely, uh, unique," Steve said. He had no idea why anyone would want a ruby-studded gold dildo in the first place, much less want one mounted on a stand for display.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Come on, Thor. Do we really have to give you the birds and the bees talk?"

"Ah," Thor said. "It is one of your strange sex objects." He pulled the dildo sculpture out of its packaging and turned it around carefully in his hands to examine it from every angle. Clint and Tony were giggling like schoolkids and even Steve wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the thing looked in Thor's hands.

"Now you're just fucking with us," Tony finally managed. "Jesus Christ, Thor. I don't know how you manage to be the worst and the best shopper in the world, but it kills me every time."

The dildo was carefully placed back in the box and discreetly kicked under the table so Clint and Tony could recover their breaths.

Steve shook his head. "What on earth would someone do with a dildo statue anyway?"

Tony shrugged. "People who would buy it for themselves want to be shocking and edgy and show off their terribly tacky taste. Or they buy them for other people to insinuate they're some kind of whore."

"Which you aren't," Steve said firmly.

"Most certainly not," Thor agreed. "That was never my intention."

"Hey, it's not the worst thing anybody's ever said about me."

Steve cupped his hand around the back of Tony's head and pulled him closer. "I don't know how anyone could say anything meaner and more untrue than that, but I don't want to hear anyone say those sorts of things to you ever again."

Tony patted Steve's cheek. "Always looking out for me, aren't you? You're too amazing." He leaned back a little. "Hey, guys, you know what else is amazing? The mural Steve painted for the baby."

"So I've heard," Natasha said with a smile.

"You haven't seen it yet? We need to fix that right now. Because no belated birthday party is complete without showing off Steve's present." He padded into the den and scooped the baby into his arms. "Come on, Stephy, let's go show everybody your nice, pretty room."

Everybody dutifully trooped into the elevator up to Tony's floor and went down the hallway to the baby's room.

"Ta-da!" Tony declared, throwing open the door to the room.

It looked a lot better in daylight. The butterflies almost looked alive, floating around the room. And the baby's crib, settled at the base of the oak tree, looked like it was growing out of the landscape.

"Wow," Natasha said. Her eyes traveled all the way up the tree trunk and out to the branches. "You really need to be doing this professionally, Steve."

"Thanks, Nat, but I'd rather be here with all of you." He put an arm around Tony's shoulder and squeezed.

"You wouldn't have to quit the team. Just sell a few pieces of art here and there."

"I don't really need the money," Steve said.

"Then donate it to charity or something. But people need to see your work."

"We're seeing it," Tony said. "And that's what really matters." He walked along the wall, touching the baby's hand to every butterfly in reach. "This one's orange and black, just like a Monarch butterfly. And this one is a pretty Blue Morpho butterfly."

"Buh," Stephy said, slapping her hand against the wall.

"Yes, it's so nice and blue, isn't it? Is blue your favorite color? I bet it's Daddy's favorite color."

Steve snorted. "Just like red is Mommy's."

Tony turned and flashed him a grin. "It's gold, actually. So much shinier. And I see you've done such a good job with that." He stroked the baby's hand over a butterfly with glittering wings, sparkling in a late ray of sunshine. "You really should be doing this professionally. I imagine there are plenty of youth centers, orphanages, and children's hospitals that could use a little sprucing up."

"Maybe I should," Steve said. "You donate to some of these organizations as part of your charity, don't you?"

"Usually, yes." Tony cleared his throat. "But after what happened at the party, I decided to donate to some omega support groups this year."

"They're just as deserving," Steve said. He patted Tony's arm. "If you'll get me the contact information, I'll be happy to donate a few sketches. Anything to help."

Tony beamed. "I'll go get you the paperwork." He pressed Stephy into Steve's arms and headed out to the elevator.

Steve smiled as he adjusted his grip on the baby, gently rocking her in his arms. "It's good to see him dedicated to a cause." He was proud to see Tony transitioning from terrified victim to a figurehead for omega rights.

"Ah, that explains it," Natasha muttered, frowning down at her phone.

Steve peered over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"There've been rumors that the sexual assault was part of a publicity stunt to get more people to donate to Tony's charity."

"What?" Steve gasped. "That's outrageous. Everyone should know by now that senator is a cad. Other people have been hurt, not just Tony."

Natasha shrugged as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. "People believe what they want to believe."

"People are idiots," Clint muttered.

"I'm going to have to have some words with the press," Steve growled.

"Not this time," she said. "It's better if you keep quiet."

"How the hell is it better to just keep letting people accuse Tony of all sorts of terrible things? He doesn't deserve any of this."

"I know," Natasha said. "But you don't need to be rushing to his defense all the time. I'll have somebody handle it. Just stand down and stick with Tony. He doesn't need to hear about this."

Steve gritted his teeth but reluctantly nodded. Tony was finally feeling confident in his own skin. Confident enough to make a stand and make a difference. And Steve wasn't going to let a few assholes bully Tony for doing what was right.

When Tony returned with the paperwork, Steve wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head. "So proud of you, babe," he said. "Wanting to make sure no one else suffers like you did."

"Absolutely," Tony said. "I want our baby to grow up in a better world than I did." He settled the baby into her crib and smiled down at her. "It's probably asking too much that she grow up in a world without injustice, but I'm hoping she never has to see her omega friends get attacked at a party or have some alpha putting her in a corner and refusing to take no for an answer. She deserves to grow up feeling that the world is a safe place."

"It's a noble goal," Steve said. "And we're all going to fight to make it happen."

He wished he could have been there when Tony was a child to protect him from all the horrors of Howard's scorn, from rape, from always feeling like he was weak and helpless. But he was going to be there for him now, to make sure Tony never felt that way again.

Natasha excused herself to make a phone call and Bruce wandered back down to the lab. Clint and Thor tried to coax Tony into playing another round of Mario Kart with them, but he waved them off.

"I'm going to help Steve wade through all the legalese. You know, signing statements that he understands he's donating his work to the Stark Charitable Foundation and all profits will go to charity, not to him and blah blah blah."

Clint made a face. "Good luck," he said. "Seriously."

Tony peered at his paperwork. "The next auction we have scheduled is for the 4th of July and most of the proceeds will go to wounded veterans and groups like Sam's. But there are support groups dedicated solely to omega soldiers. And I'm going to make sure they get funding, too."

"Good for you," Steve said. He was glad support groups existed for omegas in the military because he was sure they had to face a lot of discrimination and disrespect.

Tony cleared his throat and adopted a dignified pose. "So, Captain Rogers, we will expect your submission no later than June 15th to allow the foundation time to inspect it for suitability in the auction. It doesn't need to be patriotic art, but it can't be anything obscene or demeaning to the troops. Not that you would, but it's the standard disclaimer."

Steve smiled as he signed on the line Tony indicated. "I promise to keep it classy."

There were a few more papers Tony had to go over with him and a few more signatures. But finally Tony tucked the clipboard under his arm and grinned. "And now you're officially a donor. I'm looking forward to what you come up with."

"I've got a few sketches lying around I could turn into paintings," Steve said. "You could help me look them over."

"Tomorrow," Tony said with a hand wave. "All this paperwork is exhausting. I just want to go to bed."

Steve wasn't tired yet, but he dutifully followed Tony up to his room and crawled into bed beside him.

He had thought that maybe Tony would want to take it easy for the night considering his recent trauma. But Tony turned what he had intended as a chaste goodnight kiss into a steamy make-out session that left them both panting.

After all the horrors Tony had experienced, he probably rated this as a very minor incident, not worth more than a day's distress. Which was sad, but also proof of just how resilient Tony was.

Steve nuzzled Tony's neck. "Let me suck you off."

Tony's eyes went wide. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I want to make you feel good," Steve said. "Alphas aren't all selfish assholes, you know. Some of us like pleasuring our omegas."

"Well, sure," Tony said. "But alphas don't suck dick."

"No? I must have been sick the day they went over that rule."

Tony sighed. "Come on, Steve. Don't play dumb. You know how the world works."

"I do," Steve said. "I know the world doesn't give a damn what we do in the bedroom. As long as we're both into it, that's all that matters. So, I don't want you saying no because you're worried what people might think. No one's ever going to find out."

"I still don't like the idea. You don't need to debase yourself to make me feel better."

Steve cupped his hands around Tony's face. "Look at it this way. When I'm sucking you off, it's a position of power. When you put your dick in my mouth, I have the power to do serious injury, even bite it off. Not that I would, of course." He stroked a thumb over Tony's cheek. "Does that make any sense?"

Tony nodded, but he still looked uncertain.

Steve shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm making it sound horrifying and-"

"Not at all," Tony said, his mouth twitching into a grin. "I'm known for putting myself in harm's way, so why not? Why not put my dick in your mouth and pray to god you don't bite it off? It'll be a hell of an adrenaline rush."

Steve rolled his eyes, but he pressed Tony down against the bed. "Okay, since this is your first time, I'll explain-"

"Oh, I've had blowjobs before."

Steve raised an eyebrow.

"What? Don't tell me you're the kind of alpha that thinks omegas can't have fun with each other."

"Ah," Steve said.

It made sense. If Tony couldn't trust alphas, he'd turn to betas and omegas. And after years of feeling weak and powerless, he'd probably enjoy occasionally dominating another omega.

"Deal breaker?" Tony asked. "I understand that you wanted to be able to show me the wonders of oral sex, but since I've already had it, you don't need to-"

"Nope," Steve said. "Because you haven't done it with me yet."

"Well, then," Tony said. "Somebody's confident about his technique." But there was a flash of relief in his eyes.

He helped Tony shimmy out of his boxers and pushed his t-shirt up out of the way. Tony's bare body was captivating and his eyes couldn't resist traveling over all the beautiful skin on display. "You're gorgeous, you know that?"

Tony grinned and laced his hands behind his head. "Tell me more."

Steve smiled and ran his hand over Tony's chest. "So toned and tan and perfect. Every inch of you."

Tony's eyes fluttered shut as Steve's thumbs flicked over his nipples.

"Sensitive?"

"So sensitive," Tony said, voice husky.

Steve lowered his head to worry one of the little nubs with his teeth and then lave his tongue over it.

Tony's body jerked and he whimpered. "My god, Steve, you're killing me," he groaned.

Steve took his tongue down lower, across Tony's twitching abs, dipping into his navel, and then in a circuitous path around his hips and inner thighs while Tony cursed and squirmed. Finally, Steve decided to take mercy on him and swallowed down his length.

"Steve!" Tony gasped, hips arching off the bed.

Steve put an arm across his hips and held them down.

"Damn," Tony said. "You are good at this."

Steve hummed his agreement and pulled back to swirl his tongue over the head, dipping into the slit, and then taking all of Tony back into his mouth.

Tony spit out another litany of curses interspersed with mutters of "oh god, I must be dead" and "holy shit, I've died and gone to heaven."

Steve wanted to laugh at how ridiculously worked up Tony was, but the vibrations would probably drive Tony even wilder. He was already trembling, his hips making aborted little thrusts under Steve's arm.

Not much longer now.

"You're alive," Steve whispered when he came up briefly for air. "So vibrantly alive. And I love it."

He locked eyes with Tony and then took him as deep as he could.

Tony cried out and vainly tried to buck against him. "Shit, shit, shit. Steve, I-I can't. I can't hold on."

Steve slid his free hand up to stroke Tony's thigh, hoping he would interpret it as an encouraging gesture.

With a long groan and his eyes rolled back into his head, Tony finally came.

Steve made sure to suck him dry and then wipe his mouth with the back of his hand."See?" he said. "Letting an alpha suck you off wasn't that bad, was it?"

Tony's eyes widened. "You swallow, too?"

"I did all that hard work," Steve said with a grin. "Might as well get some kind of reward out of it."

"Don't bullshit me. Sperm tastes terrible."

Steve shrugged. "You must be special then." He pressed a kiss against Tony's mouth.

Tony wrinkled his nose, but reluctantly parted his lips and they spent a few moments languidly kissing. "Hmn," Tony said after a moment. "I guess you're right. I don't taste half bad."

Steve chuckled and gathered the omega into his arms. Tony went willingly, curling into Steve's chest with a contented sigh.

"We could do this again, if you want," Steve said.

"Only if you want to," Tony murmured against Steve's neck.

"I love doing this for you," Steve said. "I love taking care of my boyfriend."

Tony lifted his head to offer Steve a tired smile and then dropped it right back against Steve's chest. "Okay then," he said faintly.

Steve gently stroked the back of Tony's head, carding his fingers through his hair until he felt the genius' breathing even out. He still wasn't tired and after listening to all of Tony's moans he was frankly more than a little turned on. But Tony needed his presence right now. His body's needs would have to wait until tomorrow.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating, folks. Had some posting issues. But I appreciate you all for hanging with me and I love all the discussions happening in the comments. I wish I had the time to respond to all the lovely words, but I'm still reading and enjoying.

Steve woke up early the next morning by Tony laying heavily on him. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Tony said cheerfully. "Bruce and Nat are taking the baby this morning so while the baby's away, the parents get to play."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Was that a flirting attempt? Because I think it needs a little work."

Tony huffed. "My flirting is just fine. You're just not awake enough to appreciate it." He lowered his eyelids. "But I know some parts of you are."

Steve gasped as Tony rolled their hips together. "What are you doing?"

"Waking you up," Tony said, as if it should be obvious. "A good bout of sex always makes me feel awake and refreshed afterward."

Steve choked out a laugh. "Don't you usually fall asleep after sex?"

"That was once."

"That was six times."

Tony frowned. "Well, whatever. This time will be different." He tugged at the waistband of Steve's pajamas. "Come on. Let me see your cock."

With a sigh, Steve surrendered and wiggled out of his pants. There couldn't be too much harm in giving in to this, he supposed. He had put aside his needs for long enough. As long as Tony was happy, he was allowed a little happiness for himself.

"Ooh," Tony said, his eyes wide with delight. "I forgot how big you are." He reverently laid a hand over Steve's dick. "One day, this bad boy is going to be inside me."

"Tony," Steve growled.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. The first time we have non-heat sex will be magical and romantical with fireworks and roses and all that. But I still want to play with it."

"Keep talking like that and I'm getting out of here because I'm starting to think you're a twelve-year-old kid disguised as Tony Stark."

"My secret identity," Tony said with a mock gasp. "How did you know?"

Steve snorted and wrapped Tony in a hug. "I love you, childish mind and all."

"Me too," Tony said, snuggling further into Steve's arms.

The motion caused their erections to brush together and Steve let out a hiss of pleasure.

"Huh," Tony said. "Better take care of this." He shifted his hips a little and reached his hand between them to stroke them together.

"Let me do it," Steve said, biting back a groan.

Tony let go and Steve wrapped his hands around them, setting up a leisurely pace.

"Ah," Tony said, his head falling back. "You're so good at this."

"Hand's just bigger," Steve said breathlessly.

Tony was whimpering, breathing heavily against Steve's neck and rocking into his hand, urging him to go faster and faster. It was proving a little too much for Steve's sanity and he found himself climaxing an embarrassingly short time later.

Tony blinked at him in surprise. "Well," he said finally. "I guess now I know why you don't want to fuck me. Too worried about your premature ejaculation issues."

"Shut up," Steve said. He shifted his hold on Tony's cock and in two quick pumps, the genius was coming with a cry.

Tony flopped back against the bed with a happy sigh. "Oh, that was good," he said. "Nothing like sex to start the morning." He propped himself up on one elbow. "So, now that you're awake, what do you want to do today?"

"Go back to sleep," Steve said with a grin.

Tony gave him a look. "I'm serious."

"I don't know," Steve said with a shrug. "Do you have anything you're supposed to do today?"

"Nothing really," Tony said. "I was going to play a little Smash Bros. with Clint since Thor apparently took off for Asgard sometime last night, but he won't care if I change my mind."

"You should do that," Steve said. "Spending time with friends is important."

"But I want to do something with you," Tony whined.

"I'll play with you guys," Steve offered.

Tony burst into laughter.

"I know I'm not good at any of your games, but I'm never going to get any good if I don't get practice. Just one round and then I'll get out of your way so I don't slow you two down."

"Okay, okay," Tony said. "We'll head to the den after breakfast."

Clint was in the kitchen eating a large bowl of oatmeal topped with brown sugar and bacon bits when they walked in.

"Steve's going to play with us later," Tony announced.

Clint looked dubious, but he shrugged and swallowed down another mouthful of oatmeal. "It's his funeral," he said.

One of these days, Steve vowed that he would secretly get really good at the game and take them all off guard when he wiped them out. But in the meantime, as he took his seat in the middle of the couch, he'd just have to accept that they were much, much better than he was.

"We'll set it up nice and easy," Clint said. "Four player match, three lives each. The three of us and one computer player, level seven."

"Too easy," Tony argued. "Make it level nine or it's not even a challenge."

"Too hard and Cap's out in one hit," Clint insisted.

"He's going out in one hit anyway," Tony said with a mischievous grin.

"Just pick nine," Steve said with a sigh. He knew he wasn't going to be any good at the game no matter how they handicapped it for him. Might as well get the slaughter over with faster.

Steve was eliminated within a minute of the game's start, but he stayed where he was and watched Clint and Tony duke it out. It was oddly comforting sitting between the two of them, listening to them curse at the screen and insult each other's characters.

Finally, Tony was eliminated and he rolled onto the floor with a tragic sigh. "It's just you now, Clint. The fate of the world is in your hands."

"Fuck yeah," Clint said, furiously mashing buttons.

Steve helped Tony up from the floor. "Should we stay for moral support or do you want to go down and get some ice cream?"

"You fuckers better not leave," Clint shouted. "You have to see my flawless victory."

Natasha marched into the den with the monthly chore clipboard in hand. "Alright, Bruce cooked this week and I had the week before. So, which one of you wants to take next week?"

"Make Thor do it," Clint said, his eyes still on the screen.

"He's visiting family, remember? Come on. Let's man up and volunteer, guys."

"I'll do it," Tony said hesitantly.

Natasha stared at him with open-mouthed shock.

"Oh, you were talking to Steve and Clint," Tony said. "Never mind. You probably already have a system worked out and I don't want to take anybody's turn or-"

Steve clapped a hand over his mouth. "Tony, we'd be honored to have you cook for us next week."

Tony swallowed and nodded. "Okay," he said. "Okay. Just don't expect anything too fancy. I can't make any of the complicated curry stuff Bruce makes and I don't have patience to make anything that takes hours like borscht or-"

"Whatever you make will be fine," Steve said soothingly. "We're not picky. Most nights we don't have anything more complicated than meatloaf or spaghetti anyway."

"I know," Tony sighed. "But I want to make something nice. Something you guys will like, instead of just throwing crap together."

Steve put his hands on Tony's shoulders and held him at arm's length. "It doesn't matter what you make. It will be nice and we will like it because you made it and everything you make is made with love. So stop worrying about it."

"Okay," Tony mumbled, averting his eyes. "I'll, um, I'll be down in the workshop planning. Yeah, planning." He ducked under Steve's hands and darted towards the workshop.

"I'm proud of you, babe," Steve called after him. It didn't matter if Tony believed him or not. He really was proud of all the progress Tony had made and he was never going to stop telling him so.

Natasha smiled warmly at Steve. "Look at that. Our omega finally has enough confidence to cook for us. Good work, Steve."

"I don't know why you all are making such a big deal. Cooking is easy," Clint said. "Even I can do it. Just open a box of pasta stuff and nuke some meatballs. Easy."

Natasha smacked him upside the head. "That's not cooking. That's reheating."

Clint frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "So what? It's quick and easy and everything tastes perfectly fine to me."

"Not as good as homemade."

"But that takes forever."

"Tony's willing to go take the time," Natasha reminded him with a stern look. "And he's probably going to whip something up without a recipe, which means lots of trial and error and hoping for the best. So no matter what the result, promise me you'll be kind to him."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'm not an asshole. Geez."

"I know you two love to tease each other, but he'd probably take any jokes about dinner as criticism."

Steve nodded. They all needed to compliment Tony's cooking as best they could. He would get suspicious if they were overly enthusiastic, but they needed to be encouraging. Later, when Tony was more comfortable cooking for them, Clint could go back to his usual routine of playfully complaining that the vegetables needed more bacon.

"It's only Saturday," Natasha said. "Tony has a few days to come up with dinner plans for Monday at least. He's probably not going to want any help, but I'll leave a couple of cookbooks out in case he needs ideas."

"Good idea," Steve said.

Tony probably would protest if they suggested anything that might be easy to cook for his first team dinner, but if the books were there, he could still hang onto his pride and get help without having to ask.

"Promise me you'll check up on him later," she said. "I don't want him to spend the whole weekend worrying about what to make."

"Of course I will."

As if he was really going to leave his omega alone for the entire weekend.

"Good. So, Clint, you're next week and, Steve, the week after."

Clint groaned and slouched down on the couch.

"I don't want to hear it," she said. "You just got done telling me how easy cooking was."

Steve had to smile as Clint started loudly protesting. The two of them disagreed pretty often but since they knew each other so well, none of their arguments ever seemed very serious, just brief bickering that was over as soon as it started with no hurt feelings. It had to be nice to have such a solid friendship.

"While you two sort this out, I'll go check up on Tony," he said. It was still a little early, but he figured he could bring him down a cup of tea and a few cookies to give Tony a little inspiration.

Steve set the tea cup down on Tony's desk and peered at his screen. "Any luck?"

Tony had a couple different recipes up on the screen for chili, meatloaf, and beef stroganoff, along with notes about food preferences for the various team members.

"I'm winging it," Tony said as he stuffed a cookie into his mouth. "No fucking clue what we have in the pantry, but if I look up enough ideas, I'll be able to throw something together with what we've got."

Steve kissed the top of his head. "If you're going to be at this for awhile, I'll bring lunch down later."

Tony beamed. "Thanks, babe. We can have lunch together and then I'll get back to work."

Steve was glad to hear that Tony seemed to be in good spirits. They had all worried about him panicking and obsessing over the perfect meal, but he seemed to have calmed down after a little research. He was sure that whatever Tony came up with would be perfectly delicious and even better if Tony wasn't killing himself making it.

When he returned to the lab three hours later with a plate of sandwiches, Tony actually stepped away from the computer to eat and makeout with him on the couch for a little bit before he went back to researching recipes. And that was a very good sign. If Tony could be tempted away from something with the promise of kissing or cuddling, he was definitely not at the obsessive stage.

"Have you decided on a menu already?" Steve asked in between kisses.

Tony's eyes twinkled. "If I did, I'm not telling you. You'll have to wait until Monday to see what I'm making."

If Tony wanted to surprise them all with an unexpected dish, Steve was okay with that.

Since Tony seemed confident he'd be able to come up with something, Steve left him to his own devices for most of the weekend. He brought lunch to Tony again Sunday and had to drag him up out of the lab to eat dinner, but Tony didn't protest much. And he did come to bed on his own, demanding a reward for working so hard that Steve was all too happy to give.

On Monday, Tony spent most of the day in the pantry poring over the supplies they had. Since the rest of the team had insisted on taking care of Stephy's morning walks for at least a week, in the hopes that the scandal would die down, Tony had plenty of time to prepare for the evening's meal.

Clint had Stephy that morning, so naturally, when Steve took over in the afternoon, she was dressed in a pink shirt with a big owl in the middle and the words "Hoot, hoot. I'm cute," emblazoned on it.

Steve fed her a snack, played a little Peek-a-boo with her, let her chew on the edges of a board book as he read it to her, and then put her down for her afternoon nap.

A little after five, Steve wandered into the kitchen to find Tony setting up for dinner. There was a ten-pound bag of potatoes on the counter and Tony went in and out of the pantry with armfuls of seasoning containers.

"I can help," Steve said. "You know, peeling potatoes, chopping vegetables."

He remembered his first time cooking for the team, when he had to use three 8-quart slow cookers and two large stew pots to make enough pot roast to feed everyone for a single meal. Thor alone had consumed five pounds of meat and half a pound of potatoes and carrots. It had been a daunting prospect to prepare so many vegetables and watch so many pots at the same time. But now Steve was used to handling such large amounts of food.

"I've got it," Tony said cheerfully as he dragged the bulk-size bag of flour out of the pantry. "Go do your thing and dinner will be ready in about an hour."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked doubtfully.

"If everybody else can manage to figure this out on their own, I can, too. Stop hovering. I'll be fine. I've got the easy week, you know. No Thor."

Huh. Steve hadn't thought about that.

"Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Down in the gym, yes," Tony said. "So, go be there."

Steve did as he was told, hitting the weights until Jarvis announced, "Sir requests your presence at the dinner table."

By the time he washed up, everyone except Tony was already gathered around the dining table.

Natasha smiled as she settled the baby into her high chair. "Looks good, doesn't it?"

It looked really good. There was a huge bowl of mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken fritters, and green beans with bacon bits. Steve was really fond of this kind of comfort food.

Tony returned from the kitchen with a little container of puree for Stephy. "Sit, eat," he urged. "What's everyone waiting on me for?"

Steve took his place at Tony's right side and started passing everything around the table while Tony cooed at the baby and fed her little spoonfuls.

"Oh my god," Clint said, his mouth full of mashed potatoes. "These are actually good."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You see how much better things are when you make them from scratch?"

Clint nodded vigorously and scooped another helping onto his plate. "They're so creamy and delicious. How do you do it, Tony?"

Tony's eyes sparkled. "Breast milk."

Clint spat his mouthful back onto his plate and furiously swiped his napkin across his tongue.

Tony laughed. "I'm kidding. I only gave that batch to Stephy."

"Then why does it taste so different?" Clint asked suspiciously.

"Because I used almond milk. We're all out of the regular kind, I'm afraid."

"Sounds like someone needs to go shopping," Natasha muttered.

"Yep, someone does," Tony agreed.

She gave him a pointed look.

"What, me? Why me?"

"You're the one cooking, so you can do the shopping."

"Can't I just write down a list of the ingredients I need?" Tony asked hopefully.

"No."

Tony huffed. "Fine. But don't get mad when I come home with a lot of unnecessary junk and things that no one else will eat."

"I don't care," Natasha said. "You're paying for it."

"And since I'm paying for it all, someone else should have to go through all the hassle instead of me."

"Shopping's not that bad," Steve said quickly, before it could descend into a bad argument.

He had already made three shopping runs for the team and if he could navigate his way through credit cards, ATMs, digital coupons, and vending machines, he was sure Tony could manage to buy a week's worth of food.

"Besides," he added, "shouldn't you be getting new foods for the baby?"

Tony groaned. "Of course you would try to guilt-trip me like that. Fine, fine. I'll go buy things for all you ungrateful moochers. But it's not going to happen again. I pay people for this sort of thing."

"Couldn't he just-" Clint began.

Natasha kicked him under the table. "It'll be good for Tony to get out for awhile. And to actually see where all that money goes."

"I know where it all goes. Straight into your cavernous stomachs. You all eat like elephants. Speaking of which, it'll probably take an elephant to carry all the stuff I'm supposed to buy. How do you really expect me to do this by myself?"

"I'll come with you," Steve said. "And we can bring Stephy, too. It'll be a family outing."

Tony looked pained. "I hate that you know all my secret weaknesses."

"It's not really a secret," Steve said.

Just about everybody had seen by now how much Tony loved the baby and what a good family they were making.


	19. Chapter 19

On Tuesday night, Tony cut the rest of the potatoes into wedges and baked them with rosemary and olive oil to go with leftover chicken and baby carrots. But Thor returned from Asgard Wednesday morning and Tony begrudgingly admitted that their food supplies wouldn't last for another dinner.

It was time to go shopping.

Because the team, especially Thor, tended to eat more than most people, it was difficult to find food in the quantities they needed. Steve had taken to shopping at Costco for the twenty-five pound bags of sugar, flour and rice. But Costco didn't carry everything. For many of the team's favorite snacks, Steve sometimes had to visit a couple different grocery stores and hope for the best.

So when he and Tony got ready to head out, Steve filled up a couple coolers with ice.

Tony appeared at his side, decked out in the Hot Mama shirt, the baby on his hip in a matching shirt that said "Too Cute."

"You really are a boy scout," Tony said with a shake of his head. "Always prepared."

"I try," Steve said. "But you can't prepare for everything."

Tony settled the baby in her car seat and began carrying her down to the van while Steve followed with the coolers.

Steve wasn't sure how, but Natasha had managed to talk Fury into letting the Avengers have one of SHIELD's large black vans just for shopping trips. Because Tony's cars, awesome as they were, couldn't possibly hold all the groceries the team needed on a weekly basis.

Tony cooed over the baby and dangled plastic keys in front of her while Steve drove the van to the closest grocery store, a big Vons that usually had most of the specialty items the team used regularly.

Once they arrived, Tony eagerly hopped out and grabbed a cart. "Here we are, darling," he said as he settled the baby in the child seat up top. "Now we're riding in style."

Stephy just chewed on the extra length of seatbelt, completely content.

"I'll probably have to carry you later," Tony said. "I'm sure we'll need the extra space."

Steve nodded. They probably would even need another cart.

Tony hesitated in the doorway. "It's been so long since I've set food in an actual grocery store," he said. "But I did visit a hardware store pretty recently. Did I ever tell you about that? Middle of nowwhere, making things out of fertilizer, gardening gloves, and chicken wire."

"Yep. You've only compared yourself to MacGyver six times the last time you told that story."

"Yeah, well, MacGyver was pretty cool. But I'm even cooler."

Steve rolled his eyes and directed Tony to start on aisle sixteen. He started adding boxes of granola bars to the cart while Tony frowned throughtfully at the selection of pastries.

"Do we need any Pop-tarts?"

"No," Steve said. "We still have plenty."

"Define plenty."

"Twelve cases."

Tony's eyes rolled upwards as he did the calculations in his head. "Yeah," he said finally. "That should last us another week. We'll wait on those." Instead, he tossed bagels, English muffins and two boxes of chocolate Cheerios into the cart.

"We'll need bread," Steve said. Because everyone was eating sandwiches whenever they could talk Tony into making them.

"Right." Tony dumped two loaves of wheat bread, one loaf of sourdough, and a little bag of dinner rolls into the cart. "And moving on."

Steve hurried after him as Tony headed down the baby aisle. Tony was moving along so fast, tossing things into the cart before Steve could really register what he was grabbing.

It was unthinkable that they could be out of any supplies after the massive order Tony had made the first day. But then again, the baby had stayed with them a lot longer than anybody had expected. And now that she was almost two months older, she'd need bigger diapers, bigger bottles, more food.

"Look at this, Stephy," Tony said. He held up a container of baby food. "Now that you're crawling, you get to move on to stage three."

"Is there really any difference between stages?" Steve asked. "It's still all just pureed food, right?"

"Well, sure, but you have to get the baby used to solid food in stages. Stage one is a single fruit or grain or whatever so the baby's stomach gets used to it and if she's allergic to anything, you know exactly what it is that's giving her problems. By stage two, the baby can have more than one ingredient at a time."

"And what's the difference between stage two and three?"

Tony studied the labels intently. "I don't know. Bigger portions, maybe?" He shrugged and dumped six containers of stage three into the cart. "At least Stephy gets to try papayas and mangos in this batch. Oh, that reminds me. We should hit up the produce next." He wheeled the cart around.

"Slow down," Steve said. He put a hand on the cart and steered Tony towards the snack aisle. "One row at a time, okay? That way we don't forget anything."

"If we really wanted to take this row by row, we would have started with the deli on aisle 1 or the produce on aisle 17," Tony said scornfully. But he proceeded down the snack aisle anyway and grabbed a couple bags of Clint's favorite barbecue chips and one bag of sour cream and onion for Natasha.

"Grocery items first," Steve said. "Refrigerated and frozen items last." He tossed a bag of Doritos into the cart. "You don't want everything to melt, do you?"

"We have coolers," Tony reminded him.

"Well, we have a lot of shopping to do. If you get cold stuff now, it'll probably go bad before we're done. So, just humor me. We'll hit up the outside aisles last."

"Oh, alrght. We'll do it your way." But he flashed Steve a smile which meant he wasn't as annoyed as he had originally seemed.

Steve let Tony go up and down each aisle at his own pace, tossing whatever he wanted into the cart. Since it was his week to cook, he could buy whatever he thought he needed. Steve's job was just to make sure all of the rest of the meals were taken care of in the same trip.

Not that Tony needed a whole lot of help. Before Steve could say anything, Tony had grabbed Natasha's pickles, Bruce's curry sauce, Thor's hot sauce, and Clint's favorite mustard.

The cart was pretty full by the time they made it to the liquor aisle, but Tony slipped a case of Dos Equis on the bottom for Clint.

"He only thinks he's the most interesting man in the world," Tony confided. "Let's face it. I'm far more interesting than he is."

"You're terrible," Steve said. "I like to think we're all interesting in our own ways."

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that." Tony gave the cart a shove and frowned when it only rolled forward two inches. "Oh boy. This is going to be fun to manage once we add all the frozen stuff."

Steve regarded the cart dubiously. "I think it's time to get another one."

Tony brightened. "Great idea." He lifted the baby out of her seat. "Put Nat's booze up top and I'll get the second cart."

Steve frowned at the liquor shelf. Natasha drank a variety of different liquors and he was sure he wouldn't be able to remember all of them. He knew she liked margaritas so he picked out a bottle of mix that looked faintly familiar and a bottle of tequila, then added a bottle of vodka for good measure.

In another moment, Tony came zooming back up the aisle, making race car noises as the baby squealed with delight. "Don't forget that hard cider stuff," he said. And then he was off to the deli.

Right. Steve dutifully put in a 6-pack of Angry Orchard.

The clerks at the front were all too happy to let him stow the full cart up front and keep on shopping. Probably because they had seen the rest of the team in the store at some point, doing the same thing.

Steve caught up to Tony as he was adding a sixth gallon of milk to the cart.

"We need yogurt," Tony said, rattling off a list of twelve different flavors.

Steve tossed them into the cart and eyed Tony as the omega began intently examining a package of string cheese. "You can get one for yourself if you want, but I don't think anybody else eats that stuff."

"Oh, I will," Tony said cheerfully. "It's SuperStrings." He thrust the package in Steve's face.

Steve frowned at his likeness on the wrapping. "I don't remember agreeing to sponsor cheese."

"It's not just you." Tony dug through the display, pulling out a couple more packages with Clint and Thor's images on them. "This is pretty awesome. I'm getting one of everybody's. And yes, yes, I'll eat them. But Clint and Thor will probably help. They'll eat just about anything."

Steve shook his head as Tony began piling packages of various cheeses and lunch meats into the cart. "I'll go get a third cart."

"Why? There's still plenty of room in this one."

"The next stop is the meat department. And you know we can fill up a whole cart just with meat."

Tony grimaced. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Steve grabbed the next cart and wheeled it over beside Tony, standing back and just letting him heap bacon, breakfast sausages, salmon, ham shanks, frozen shrimp, and scallops into it. He still had no idea what Tony might be making, but Tony had grabbed a good variety of things so there were plenty of options.

Tony managed to fit some squash, sweet potatoes, and citrus fruits into his cart and then Steve took over, stuffing grapes, peaches, and melons into his cart.

And finally, a tub each of everyone's favorite ice cream.

It was hard to believe the team would really go through three carts full of food in a week, but somehow they always did.

Tony studied the receipt as they went out the door. "I can't believe we really spent a thousand dollars on food," he said with a sigh. "You guys are so expensive."

"And we're not even done yet."

Steve packed as much as he could into the coolers so they could make a quick trip to Costco to buy big jars of mayonaise, ketchup and mustard, frozen vegetables and fruit, rice, protein powder, paper towels, and soap.

"And there's another four hundred dollars," Tony said with a heavy sigh.

"You probably make that much in an hour."

Tony grinned. "Something like that. Thank god, right? What would the team do without my bottomless wallet?"

Steve kissed his forehead. "You are way more than a walking wallet to us. You're family."

Tony beamed as he slipped into his seat. "You say the sweetest things, babe."

Steve checked his watch. "What do you say we go out for lunch after we put all this away?"

"I like that idea," Tony said. "Where are we going?"

"Anywhere you want," Steve said. "I'll let you drive." He knew how much Tony loved showing off his favorite cars.

"I'm thinking pizza," Tony said, absently reaching into a shopping bag for an orange as the baby fussed. He held it out to her and she quieted down as she patted it with her hands.

"Anywhere you want to go," Steve repeated. "We deserve a little treat after all that shopping. And I'm sure Nat and Clint will be willing to watch Stephy for an hour or two."

"Wait," Tony said suddenly. "We have to go back."

"What did we forget?" Steve mentally ran through all the weekly necessities and he couldn't think of anything they missed, unless Tony needed something specific for dinner.

"I promised Stephy I would get her a new outfit if she was good today."

"It's fine," Steve said. "She's too young to understand that concept."

"But I promised," Tony insisted. "I don't want to start being a bad mom that never does what he says. I want Stephy to trust me."

"Tony, you're not-"

"There's a Babies 'R Us," Tony said. "Pull over."

With a sigh, Steve pulled into the lot and Tony bounded out of the door as soon as the van came to a stop.

"The coolers won't keep stuff cold forever," Steve called after him.

"I know. I'll just be a minute."

Steve sighed and dropped his head down on the steering wheel. He knew full well Tony was going to take a lot longer than a minute. In fact, he was probably going to have to go after him and drag him out of the store before he got distracted by all the cute gadgets and tried to buy everything. But at the moment, getting out of the car and chasing after him seemed like a huge hassle. Shopping was exhausting. He didn't know how Tony still managed to be bursting with energy.

Fifteen minutes later, Tony emerged from the store with two shopping bags.. "Look at this," he said, triumphantly holding up a bright pink shirt that said "My mama is cooler than yours."

Steve shook his head. "Clint is going to be so jealous."

"Well, he had his chance to get the baby an awesome shirt and he picked the owl. So he can be jealous all he wants."

Steve sighed. "The two of you and your novelty shirts."

"I got one for you, too," Tony said cheerfully. He held up a camo onesie that declared "My daddy is a soldier."

"That's not technically true."

"Sure it is. You're still our supersoldier, even if you're not in the army anymore." Tony rummaged through the second bag and held up a pale purple dress, pink pants, and a yellow shirt that said "World's Cutest Baby."

Steve affectionately ruffled Tony's hair. "Remember the other day when you were complaining about going shopping? Look how much you're getting into it now."

Tony huffed. "Yeah, well, this isn't going to be a regular thing, okay? It was nice to get out of the house and sure, shopping wasn't as bad as I thought. But I refuse to be the designated shopper for the rest of my life."

"Of course not," Steve said soothingly. "We all take turns with the chores. Shopping, cleaning, cooking, filling out reports. There's a lot of work involved keeping the team running smoothly and it's not always fun, but we try to rotate so nobody gets stuck doing unpleasant stuff for too long."

Tony frowned. "Really? I haven't really had to do that stuff. I've filled out a few reports here and there when I've cause accidental property damage, but I didn't realize these were regular things. How long has this all been going on?"

"Since the beginning of the year," Steve said. "You made a big fuss about how you shouldn't have to do any of the cooking or cleaning because it's your Tower and your contribution to the team is to keep us all funded. Do you remember that?"

"Oh yeah." Tony looked embarrassed. "No wonder everyone was acting like I couldn't manage the baby. You probably all thought I was a spoiled brat who never had to do anything at home and considered housework beneath him. I can't believe you all let me get away with that."

"You had a valid point," Steve said. "Since you are housing us and supporting us financially, we could give you a little leniency on the chores."

"Six months is probably more than enough leniency," Tony said. "What kind of omega am I if I'm not looking after the household somehow?"

"We'll be happy to add you into the chore rotation," Steve said. "But you were never a bad omega. You were making us armor and looking after the bots. Sure, they're not conventional outlets for omega instincts, but being normal is overrated."

Tony shrugged. "If you say so."

"I do say so," Steve said. He pulled the van into the garage and cut the engine so he could focus all of his attention on Tony. "I love you, Tony. I wouldn't be dating you if I didn't. I wouldn't want to take you out to lunch and spend time shopping with you if I didn't. To me, you're perfect just the way you are."

Tony curled into Steve's side. "I'm not perfect," he whispered into Steve's shoulder.

Steve stroked his back. "You are to me. Now, how about that lunch date?"

Tony chewed his bottom lip. "But the stuff. And the baby."

"The guys will handle it," Steve said. He slid out of the van and gestured in the direction of Tony's fancy cars. "After you."

"Jarvis?" Tony said.

"On their way, Sir. Agent Barton seemed eager to help once he learned you brought home a specific item."

Tony snorted. "Clint and his bacon fetish. Seriously. Jarvis, make a note. Clint's getting a bunch of Kevin Bacon movies for his birthday."

"Duly noted," Jarvis said. "And I would be on my way if I were you. Agent Barton was in the middle of constructing a sandwich before your arrival."

"Yikes," Tony said. "Yeah, better get out of the way before we get trampled." He tugged Steve over to the silver Maserati.

Steve was a little surprised when Tony backed the car out of the garage and then set it on autopilot. Tony was usually so insistent on driving his own cars, even when Happy was willing to play chauffeur and Jarvis was readily available. But he understood a little better when Tony crawled into his lap and started kissing him.

Yeah, it was probably a little difficult to make out while driving.

"We have arrived at our destination," Jarvis announced a mere five minutes later.

Tony cursed as he slid off Steve's lap. Steve just laughed and offered Tony his hand to walk with him into the restaurant.

All in all, it was a good lunch. The pizza was decent, but more importantly, no reporters came up to ask nosy questions and nobody seemed to be filming them or taking pictures. It was just the kind of date Tony really needed.

When they got home, Tony headed immediately into the kitchen and looked around in the fridge and the pantry to be sure everything had been unloaded from the van and put away. Apparently satisfied, he rolled up his sleeves and grinned. "Alright, Steve. I had fun today, but now I have to get to work."

"It's not even one," Steve protested. "You're not really going to be cooking for six or seven hours, are you?"

Tony patted his cheek. "You worry too much, darling. It's not all hands-on work. I've got to get the marinade going now or this salmon won't have any flavor."

Steve smiled sheepishly. "In that case, I'll leave you to it." He kissed Tony's cheek. "I'll see you at dinner."

For the next several hours, Steve resolved to stay out of Tony's way. He went and helped Clint change the baby into one of her new outfits, which Tony would probably appreciate, helped Thor and Bruce move some of Bruce's machinery to a different section of the lab, and sparred with Natasha.

The call for dinner came just as Natasha crouched down to prepare an attack. She grinned ferally as she straightened up. "You got lucky, Cap," she said. "Saved by the dinner bell."

Steve wiped the sweat off his forehead as he ducked out of the ring. "You must have forgotten the last time you ended up knocked down on your back."

"I let you pin me," she said with a teasing smile. "Have to let my sparring partners have a few victories here and there so their self-esteem doesn't get crushed."

Steve snorted and threw his towel at her. "I hope your self-esteem doesn't get crushed when I beat you upstairs."

Natasha only rolled her eyes and followed him upstairs.

Clint was the first one there, as usual. Probably because he had been lurking in the vents and had come down as soon as he smelled food.

"This is just like that Asian buffet place," Clint said gleefully. "But ten times better."

There was a big platter of teriyaki-glazed salmon, orange chicken, scallops with ginger and scallions, a bowl of edamame, tempura shrimp and vegetables, miso soup, brown rice, soba noodles, and little dishes of what looked like soy sauce and wasabi.

"Wow," Natasha said as she swept into the room. "We're really getting the gourmet treatment tonight."

Tony beamed. "I try."

"I'm sure it's all delicious," she continued as she settled into her seat. "But you really didn't need to go through this much work just for us."

"It wasn't that much work," Tony said dismissively. "Besides, I like cooking. I always have."

Clint popped a scallop into his mouth."And here I thought you couldn't cook," he said with a shake of his head.

"I never said I couldn't cook. I said I didn't cook." Tony averted his eyes. "I wasn't allowed to when I was younger."

"Your dad's a dumbass," Clint declared with his mouth full. "If you were my kid, I'd assign you cooking duty as part of your chores. Because these scallops are fucking bomb."

Natasha swatted Clint's hand when he tried to filch another scallop from the serving plate. "Wait for Bruce and Thor," she said. "And don't use your fingers. The rest of us don't want to taste bow grease."

Clint huffed and sat back in his seat. "Those two idiots deserve to come down and find I've eaten it all. It's a sacrilege to let this heavenly feast get cold."

"Nice try," Tony said. "But flattery isn't going to get you new arrows."

"I'm being serious," Clint protested.

In another minute, Bruce and Thor wandered in, discussing the properties of lightning, for some reason.

Bruce stopped in his tracks. "Oh," he said faintly. "Oh wow. This looks amazing."

"I know, right?" Clint said. "So sit your ass down and eat."

Natasha gave him a withering look across the table, but she began passing the platters of food down the table so everyone could start loading up their plates.

Steve happily took a little bit of everything. He was always willing to try new foods, since the risks of allergies and food poisoning was a thing of the past. Besides, it was fascinating to discover new dishes that he would never had come across in the 40s.

"This is so good," Clint enthused. "Even better than Beijing."

Natasha gave him a look. "I try not to think about Beijing."

"Okay, so it was kind of a disaster," Clint admitted. "But at least the food was good."

"Says the man who ate a scorpion on a stick."

"Says the woman who drank fermented soybean-"

"Hey," Steve said sternly. "Let's just appreciate Tony's cooking and talk about your culinary adventures some other time."

There was silence for a moment and then Bruce said quietly, "Yes, we should all appreciate Tony's cooking. And frankly, we should be impressed by how quickly he's mastered cooking, especially in the quantities we tend to consume."

Natasha nodded. "And with such complicated dishes, too."

Tony ducked his head. "It's not my first time in the kitchen, you know."

"Well, sure. You've been making sandwiches and stuff for the baby. But this is hardcore, man," Clint said. "Like culinary school good."

Tony smiled faintly. "Jarvis always did say I had natural talent. The family butler when I was a child, that is. Not my A.I."

"So, all this time, you've been depriving us of your amazing cooking talent? Not cool, man."

Tony shrugged. "I didn't think I still had it in me. I've pretended for so long that I'm helpless in the kitchen that I was afraid it was becoming true. Just ask Pepper about that omelette I fucked up."

"Let me guess," Steve said. "Howard's idea."

Tony nodded. "He was so sure cooking was such an un-alpha trait that he hired personal chefs to make all our meals. Even sandwiches. All I ever had to do as a child was open the fridge and grab a plate. But I was always so fascinated with how the fridge managed to restock itself with all these meals. Jarvis caught me once peeking into the kitchen as the chefs prepared for one of my mother's charity galas and he promised me he would teach me how to cook. So everyday when I got home from school, Jarvis would let me take apart the toaster or the oven to see how it worked and after I put it back together, he would teach me a few simple recipes. I'm sure I was never the greatest cook back then because I was only seven or eight, but Jarvis ate every single thing I ever cooked."

"I'm sure it was all delicious," Steve said. And he was sure that even if it wasn't, Jarvis must have treasured having that small child eagerly cooking for him out of love. He was so glad that Tony at least had some happy memories in what otherwise had to have been a miserable childhood.

Tony sighed. "And then my dumb ass had to ruin everything by making my mother breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. I was so proud of those blueberry pancakes. And I was so devastated when dear old dad tossed them out before I could give them to her."

"That's fucking bullshit," Clint said.

"An outrage," Thor boomed, slamming a fist against the table.

From the den, the baby began to cry.

"I'll get her," Bruce said as Tony started to rise.

Tony lowered himself back into his seat. "So, yeah, I was banned from the kitchen after that. Because cooking is a task saved for ditzy, blonde omega women who are too dumb to learn any real skills and the hired help. So if I had so much free time to learn worthless tricks, I obviously wasn't doing enough schoolwork. And that's when I was sent off to boarding school."

"I've never heard more backward, outdated thinking in my life," Natasha said scornfully. "And I've had to deal with plenty of ignorant people in my work. How on earth did your father think those soldiers on the front lines survived without omegas and personal chefs?" She shook her head. "Clint and I would have starved on stakeout if we followed that kind of logic."

Tony shrugged. "He wasn't opposed to take-out. Or microwaves."

"Well, thank god for that," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"I spent so many years trying to prove that being born as an omega meant nothing," Tony said with a rueful smile. "I took on most of his alpha characteristics in an attempt to prove to him that I was different from what he thought omegas were all like. Even after he was dead, I was still pretending that I didn't have normal omega instincts. And here I am, cooking and taking care of the baby and proving him right."

"You're doing no such thing," Steve declared. "You will never fit Howard's idea of an omega because he somehow got it into his head that all omegas are exactly the same. It's an outdated stereotype that all omegas are fragile little things that ought to stay home cooking, cleaning, and looking after the children because they're too weak to participate in most of society. I don't know a single omega who fit that mold. I've even met a few omegas who had no interest in children and never wanted to settle down with a mate."

"But I do," Tony protested.

"But can you honestly tell me you like cleaning?"

Tony chuckled. "Have you seen my lab?"

"Exactly," Steve said. "Every omega is different. Your instincts make you better at taking care of people, but there's so many ways you can act that out. You remember I told you how often Bucky had to save me for getting the crap beaten out of me in some alley? Bucky was one of those omegas who couldn't cook to save his life, but he always seemed to sense when I was in trouble and he'd be there to fuss over me and bandage me up."

Bruce returned with the baby balanced on his hip. "We could hear you guys all the way from the den," he said.

Tony winced and reached out to take her from Bruce. "Sorry, Stephy. Mommy didn't mean for you to hear about such awful stuff." He cradled her in his arms. "I will never regret being your mother. You're one of the best things that ever happened to me, you know."

The baby just grunted and grabbed a fistful of Tony's shirt.

"I know, I know," he said soothingly. "Mama's gonna feed you." He pushed his chair back a little from the table and opened his shirt. "Well, I guess I should just accept this life I was always destined to have," he said with a sigh. "Devoting my life to children and pack and having to give up everything else as pretty little pipe dreams."

"If this is about your company," Clint said, "we already promised we'd help you get it back. And really, how do they think they'll survive without you? You're the CEO."

"Technically, that's Pepper's job," Tony said. "I've never been that great at actually managing my company. Probably because omegas were never supposed to be good at this sort of thing."

"Oh, give me a break," Clint said. "Omegas are all over the business world now. You just hate the boring paperwork. Not that anybody blames you for that. If I had to deal with all the patent and lawsuit and charity forms every day, I'd hire me a Pepper too. But seriously, omegas are in all sorts of positions now. I even had to pose as an omega arms dealer for one of my missions."

Tony eyed him. "How'd you pull that one off?"

Clint shrugged. "They spritzed me with omega scent and then put a bunch of plaster and make-up on my neck so it looked like I had an omega gland. That's where we hid the bug, under that fake gland. Because how many people would really suspect my neck was listening in on them. But that's why I love my job."

Tony frowned thoughtfully. "And nobody thought you were acting weird for an omega?"

"Why would they? I had a couple of agents posing as bodyguards so nobody would touch me and figure out the truth, but having bodyguards is perfectly normal in the illegal arms business."

"Huh," Tony said. "I guess you're right."

"Heck yes I am." Clint polished off the last scallop and leaned back in his seat with a look of self-satisfaction.

"So," Tony said. "Who's ready for dessert?"

Clint fell over backward. "You made dessert too? Holy shit."

Tony put his hands over the baby's ears and gave Clint a stern look.

"Sorry," Clint said as he scrambled back into his chair. "But did you really make us something?"

"Yep," Tony said. "But there's also green tea ice cream in the freezer for those who want that."

"No way," Clint said. "I'll have whatever you made."

"It's just dango," Tony said. "Nothing really exciting."

"I don't even know what that is," Clint said. "But you made it, so I'll eat it."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Seriously," Clint said. "I know we kind of suck at telling you how awesome you are and tend to take everything here for granted, but really, you are awesome. You've got our backs in the field and you've got us all set up for life here at home. I don't care what anybody else says about you. You're my bro, man." He bumped fists with Tony.

"Men," Natasha said with a shake of her head. But her smile was fond.

Steve put an arm around Tony's shoulder and gently squeezed. "You hear that? You're awesome."

"Oh, I already knew that," Tony said cheerfully. He chucked the baby under the chin. "And you know it, too, don't you?"

Stephy just giggled and snuggled into Tony's chest.


	20. Chapter 20

Friday afternoon, Steve's workout in the gym was interrupted by Jarvis' announcement to come down to the lab.

"He's okay, right?" Steve said.

"There is no need to be alarmed, Captain Rogers. Sir merely requires your assistance with one of his projects."

Steve frowned. As far as he knew, Tony didn't have any projects he was supposed to be working on. But when he entered the lab, Tony's workbench was covered in a tangle of wires and circuit boards.

"You're not working on stuff for SI, are you?"

"Nope," Tony said. He shoved the pile of wires to the side and spun his chair around to face Steve. "Pepper would kill me."

"And you don't have to work on stuff for us either," Steve said. "This is a vacation week for you. You don't need to do anything unless you want to."

"Oh, I want to," Tony reassured him. "It may not make sense, but tinkering around down here can be relaxing."

"Good," Steve said. He kissed Tony's forehead. "I don't have to understand, as long as it makes you happy. Now, what did you need my help with?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Oh yeah. That." He rose and squared his shoulders. "I need you start touching my gland again."

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Steve asked. "We can wait a few more days."

"No, I'm not ready," Tony admitted. "But if we wait until I'm ready, a couple days will turn into a couple weeks and then a couple months, and then I'll never get back into the routine. And I'm not about to let this asshole ruin all the progress I've made."

He did have a point.

"Okay," Steve said. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Tony flashed him a smile. "Besides, this is my happy place. It's hard to feel helpless when I'm surrounded by Jarvis and the bots." He tilted his head to one side, exposing his neck. "Ready when you are, Steve."

Steve pressed gently on Tony's gland, pulling his hand back when Tony's smile slid off his face and he began to look apprehensive.

"No, wait," Tony said. "Not yet. I can take it a little longer."

"You don't need to push yourself so much on-"

"We usually do it for longer," Tony insisted through gritted teeth. "Don't go easy on me now."

"If you say so," Steve said. He rubbed a slow circle over Tony's gland.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I can do this, I can do this."

"Yes, you can," Steve said soothingly. "You're doing great."

After another minute, Tony tentatively opened one eye. "Steve?" he said in a small voice.

Steve pulled the omega into a hug. "You're amazing, you know that? You can do anything once you put your mind to it."

"Flattery," Tony murmured into his chest.

Steve pulled back a little and cupped Tony's face in his hands. "Babe," he said. "You're doing so well. It's like the incident with the Senator never even happened."

Tony looked embarrassed by the praise."He didn't actually touch me, you know."

"I know," Steve said. "But it always amazes me how you can convince yourself not to be affected by all this trauma, how you can just push through and be okay." He kissed Tony's cheek. "And one day you will be totally fine. As if none of this ever happened."

Tony smiled faintly. "One day. But right now, I still want a hug and a bowl of ice cream."

"Of course," Steve said. He squeezed Tony's shoulder. "I'll be right back."

When he returned to the lab, Tony's bench was cleared off and the omega was sprawled across the couch.

Steve gathered Tony into his arms and settled the bowl of ice cream onto his lap. After so many days doing this, Tony had stopped complaining that he could feed himself and seemed to enjoy Steve fussing over him. Even after the ice cream was gone, the omega usually stayed in his arms for a little while longer.

But today, Tony was a little more restless than usual. He stayed put long enough to finish his ice cream and then he squirmed out of Steve's embrace.

"Better get back to work," he said. "Gotta fix some of the wiring on the suit."

"You sure?" Steve asked. Because Tony didn't look one hundred percent yet. His eyes still held that haunted, anxious look.

"Yeah," Tony said. "I'll be fine." He waved a hand towards his empty workbench. "Once I start focusing on something else, it'll be easier to get over it. My brain can only think in one direction at a time."

Steve snorted. Even as he spoke, Tony was probably already thinking up improvements to his project, planning dinner, and debating what baby food to feed Stephy later.

Tony flashed him a smile that looked a little more stable. "I really appreciate you being there for me," he said. "But like you said, it's my own willpower that'll get me through. I can do this."

"Yes you can," Steve said. He planted a kiss on Tony's forehead. "I'll see you at dinner, then."

But disconcertingly, Tony wasn't there for dinner. Steve arrived in the dining room to find the table laden with ham and yams and a message from Tony that he had to fix something in the lab so everyone should start eating without him.

"I don't like this," Steve said. "This week is supposed to be like a vacation for him. He doesn't need to work so hard that he's skipping meals again."

"It's hard for him to take it easy," Natasha said. "After all those days doing nothing but snuggling with you, he probably really feels like he needs to make up for it." She held up a hand as Steve started to protest. "I know. He really needed that time to recover. But he's so used to being told that he's not good enough, that everything he makes is useless no matter how many upgrades he puts into it. It's no wonder he's such a workaholic now."

"And it needs to stop," Steve said. "Our voices need to be louder than Howard's in his head."

"Agreed," Natasha said. "But you can't break years of self-loathing in one night."

"I know. But we have to start somewhere. It's unbelievable how much progress Tony's made trusting me to touch his gland. I can get through to him on this, too."

He was all set to march straight into the lab and envelope Tony in a hug as he assured him that he was amazing and he didn't need to prove himself to anybody. But the door to the lab remained shut.

"Jarvis, open the doors. I need to talk to Tony."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Sir has requested that I put the lab on lockdown."

"But this is important. We're all worried about him."

"I will alert you if Sir's experiments become a major threat to his health and safety," Jarvis said. "But until then, I must respect his wishes for privacy."

"It's already starting to threaten his health," Steve insisted. "He skipped dinner."

"As he has done multiple times before. I'm sorry, Captain Rogers, but this is not a major threat. Sir has a refrigerator down here in the lab. I will make sure to remind him to have a snack later, but that is all I am willing to do."

Steve sighed and conceded defeat. "Will you at least tell him that we missed him at dinner? We love his cooking, but we love his presence more."

"I will," Jarvis said. "Good evening, Captain."

Steve resigned himself to a few hours in the gym, working out all his frustrations against the punching bags. And then he threw himself into bed without bothering to change into his pajamas. He was just so tired of failure. One step forward, two steps back.

When Tony crawled into bed later that night, he smelled like a welding torch. But Steve didn't care. He simply rolled over and pulled the genius tightly into his arms.

"How's the armor?" he asked.

"What?"

"That wiring problem you were fixing."

"Oh, that. Just a small tweak and it was fixed. Would have been done hours ago if the fire hadn't happened."

"What?" Steve said. "Something caught fire? Jarvis should have called us if-"

Tony waved him off. "It was a small fire. Barely an issue. Dummy's remarkably dedicated about fire safety. But part of my notes caught fire and I had to salvage them before they got burned to a crisp or drowned in extinguisher."

Steve took Tony's hands and turned them over, inspecting the hastily wrapped bandages over Tony's fingers and half of his palms. "Oh, honey," he said.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Tony said quickly. "I wrapped the hell out of my whole hand, but it's really a minor burn. No worse than being out in the sun a little too long."

Steve gently kissed Tony's fingertips. "You should be more careful. You're worth more than a whole sheath of notes." He moved one hand to stroke the back of Tony's head. "And besides, it's all up here anyway. You could always rewrite your notes."

"I know," Tony said. "I wasn't thinking. I just kind of panicked and grabbed for them. Lesson learned."

"At least you're still okay."

"Yep. I'm okay," Tony affirmed. He snuggled into Steve's chest. "But I'm sure you'll want to fuss over me for the next few days anyway."

Steve grinned as he stroked Tony's hair. "You know it."

The next morning, Steve helped Tony remove his bandages and put fresh ones on. The burns weren't quite as bad as he had feared, but just a little more severe than Tony had downplayed them as. At least it was only reddened skin and not blisters.

And for once, Tony did seem to be taking it easy, gingerly picking most things up with his least burned left hand, spending more time walking around the Tower with the baby in her carrier than actually supporting her with his hands, and crunching numbers with Jarvis instead of doing physical work.

Steve was proud of him.

Tony still insisted on completing his week of cooking duty even though Bruce volunteered to cook for the last two days and Clint assured him they could order take-out or even go out to eat somewhere.

"I've got this," Tony said firmly. "I did all that shopping for the perfect ingredients. And I'm not going to let them go to waste."

On Saturday night, Tony managed three large stew pots of chicken and dumplings. It had probably taken a lot of time and effort for him to slice carrots and celery with his left hand, but otherwise, Steve conceded that it was a dinner that wouldn't have been too taxing on his hands. Good soup stock needed plenty of time to simmer, which meant plenty of time for Tony to ice his hands again and reapply his bandages.

But on Sunday night, Steve arrived in the dining room to find all the glasses full with raspberry lemonade, a basket of savory biscuits in the middle of the table, and a small bowl of clam chowder beside each plate.

"Looks good," Steve said approvingly.

"Oh, this isn't half of it," Clint said. "Thor's helping Tony carry the rest."

And then Tony made his entrance with Thor following after him, a huge platter of salmon and asparagus balanced on one hand and a casserole dish full of seafood fettuccine in the other.

Everyone immediately piled their plates full.

"Oh, Tony, you've outdone yourself again," Natasha said as she reached for her sixth biscuit. "I can't believe you managed all of this with just one hand, basically. It's all so delicious."

"It's my last night cooking for awhile," Tony said with a wistful note to his voice. "So I figured I'd go out with a bang."

Clint and Natasha exchanged a glance. "No," she said. "Not unless you're offering something in return."

"What?" Tony asked warily. "What are you two plotting?"

Clint cleared his throat. "Since you obviously like cooking way more than I do, I'll give you my week and in return, I'll do some of the shopping and the clean-up."

"Tempting," Tony said. "Very tempting."

"And I'll write up your next incident report."

"Deal," Tony said immediately.

"Something tells me you'll regret that," Natasha said.

"Not going to happen," Steve said firmly. "Because Tony's not the type to let an innocent bystander get hurt just so Clint has to do more paperwork."

Tony shook his head vigorously. "I don't try to cause incidents. They just happen sometimes."

"I know," Steve said. "We've all had an accident here or there. Sometimes we get thrown into walls or onto taxi cabs and there's really nothing we could have done to prevent the damage. And sometimes we're so focused on fighting the villain that we're not paying attention to the collateral damage at the moment. I know we never intentionally hurt anybody, but it happens when we don't think about the bigger picture. And it's not just you, Tony. I've got six reports in my file right just from this year."

"Lucky," Clint said. "I have twelve."

"I've got twenty," Tony said sheepishly.

"You don't want to know how many I have," Bruce said.

Tony grinned. "Well, I guess it's a relief knowing I don't have the most incidents right now." He reached across the table to give Bruce a high-five with his left hand.

"I have a report on file about ripping a lamp post out of the ground and using it like a baseball bat against incoming mini drones," Bruce said with a long-suffering sigh. "I wish they wouldn't tell me what goes on while the other guy's in control. Because most of the time, I really don't want to know."

"Oh, come on, Bruce. It was awesome. You can admit it."

"Speaking of awesome," Clint said, pushing his empty plate into the middle of the table. "What did you come up for dessert tonight?"

"So, I was going to make crème brulee," Tony began. "But I figured Steve would be upset if I tried using the torch after, well, this incident." He wiggled his fingers. "So I just made blood orange custard."

"I love blood orange," Natasha said. "I've never had it in a custard before, but I can't wait to try it."

"Of course you like it," Clint said. "It's got blood in the name."

Natasha just rolled her eyes.

Thor went back into the kitchen to bring out the tray of custards. Tony had prepared a little ramekin's worth of custard for everyone. Well, except for Thor who had a soup bowl's worth.

Tony watched anxiously as Natasha took her first spoonful. "Delicious," she declared.

"See?" Clint said, waving his spoon in the air. "I'm doing you all a favor by giving Tony my week. I should be getting a medal, not extra chores."

"Shut up and let me enjoy my custard or you'll be getting metal through the chest," Natasha said warningly.

Clint subsided with a sigh. "Just saying."


	21. Chapter 21

On Monday, the team turned full care of the baby back over to Tony.

While Steve was sure they had enjoyed extra time with the baby, it was really time for everything to go back to normal. The baby would be happier bonding with Tony, Tony would be happier getting out of the house again every morning, and Steve would be happier knowing he had his walk with Tony to look forward to after his morning run.

Steve braced himself for the paparazzi onslaught their first day back in the park together, but it looked liked the media had moved on to other stories. So he just draped an arm over Tony's shoulder and listened indulgently as Tony prattled on about feedback loops, electronic discharge, and particle density. He still had no idea what any of it meant. Tony could have been talking about toilet repair for all he knew. The only thing Steve paid any attention to was the excitement in Tony's voice.

He had really missed these moments.

"-which is why those idiots at NASA will never be able to make it work," Tony concluded. He paused to take a breath and then his brow furrowed. "Hey, isn't that Sam?" he asked, pointing to a man in gray sweats drinking out of the water fountain.

"I think it is," Steve said. And as he watched, the man straightened up and waved. "Yeah, it is."

Tony nudged him with his hip. "You can go and say hi if you want. We're not going anywhere."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Isn't that right, Stephy?"

The baby took that as her cue to start fussing.

"Oh, come on," Tony said. "Daddy will be right back." He lifted the baby out of the stroller and cradled her against his chest.

"Maybe we should just go home early," Steve said. "Put her down for another nap where it's nice and quiet."

"Nah, I probably just need to change her. You go catch up with your friend and I'll take Stephy into the restroom."

Well, Tony knew the baby best. So he just shrugged and jogged towards the water fountain.

Sam pulled him into a one-armed hug."Hey, man," he said. "Long time, no see."

"I know," Steve said. "Where've you been? You slacking on your morning runs?"

"Nah, just moved to a different part of the park. Same spot as the girl at the front desk."

Steve grinned. "Oh, is that why? You sure you didn't just get tired of me showing you up all the time?"

"How could I ever get tired of running with you? Where else am I going to hear such motivating pep talk as 'on your left'?"

Steve laughed. "I really have missed you, Sam."

"Speaking of missing people." Sam lowered his voice. "Your buddy's been spotted in the area."

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. It had been so long since he had seen Bucky that he had started to get worried that they had scared him off for good this time. But Bucky was finally starting to circle back to the Tower. It was the best news he had heard in awhile.

"Got a plan for catching him this time?" Sam asked.

"No plan. Bucky will come home when he's ready."

"A guy like him really shouldn't be out wandering the streets."

Steve shook his head. "I can't make him stay, Sam. You know that. He needs his space to figure himself out. Maybe one day he'll come home for good, but until then, all I can do for him is just be there whenever he needs a friend."

Sam shrugged. "Well, you know him better than I do. I'm just the guy with eyes in the sky."

"And I appreciate that, Sam. Thanks for the head's up." He clapped Sam on the back and jogged over to where Tony was waiting with the baby stroller.

"Any news?" Tony asked

"Yep. Bucky's back in town."

Tony's eyes lit up. "I'll get things ready." He tapped at his phone. "Jarvis, make sure Clint picks up those butterscotch candies Bucky likes when he goes out. And remind me to make up a room on the ground floor. Bucky's still kind of weird about elevators."

Steve smiled and squeezed Tony's shoulder. He was proud to see Tony taking charge to make sure Bucky felt safe and comfortable in the Tower. Maybe this would finally be the time Bucky stopped running.

By the time they returned to the Tower, Tony had come up with a couple meals Bucky might like, a few movies they could watch without upsetting him, and a card game that would hopefully bring back memories of sitting around the campfire with the Commandos. Which was great, but Bucky probably wouldn't show up for another week or two. That was usually how it went. Bucky circled around the area for a few days first and did reconnaissance before he could be convinced the Tower was safe. But if planning everything out ahead of time made Tony happy, more power to him. Besides, with Bucky's condition, there was no harm in being overly prepared. The more they took the time to think through what would set Bucky off, the more likely they were to be careful around him.

Tony was still bursting with enthusiasm when they got home. He held the baby snugly in his arms and turned in a slow circle. "Wheee, baby airplane." He dipped down with her a little. "Mayday, mayday. Pull up, pull up!"

The baby squealed and kicked her feet.

Tony straightened up and spun around in another circle. "Whew, cruising altitude reestablished."

Steve snorted and shook his head. "I'm going to tell the others we survived."

"Oh, good idea." Tony followed after him as he padded into the den where most of the team were still sitting around in their pajamas, drinking lemonade or iced coffee.

"Welcome back, boys," Natasha said. "Oh, Pepper called while you were out. She said leaving your phone at home is not a good excuse for missing her calls." She gave Tony a meaningful look.

Tony grinned sheepishly. "I'll call her back. Does someone want to take Stephy for a little bit?"

"I will," Clint said eagerly. He held out his hands. "Come here, baby girl."

Stephy calmly let Clint hold her just until Tony was out of the room and then she started squirming and fussing.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Clint said. He bounced her on one hip. "You hungry? I've got some cinnamon applesauce in the fridge. I know it's your favorite." He disappeared into the kitchen.

Steve settled down on the couch next to Bruce and started flipping through the closest magazine while he waited for Tony to finish his call.

Bruce leaned over. "You hoping to brush up on your knowledge of thermodynamics?"

Steve looked down and realized he was holding the latest issue of Scientific American. "Uh, sort of," he said. "I've been meaning to do a little reading so I can understand more than half of what Tony talks about."

Bruce smiled. "You probably know more than you think you do. Just not in the same terminology Tony uses. For instance, if I was to start telling you about-"

Clint wandered back out of the kitchen, bouncing the still-wailing baby on his hip."Natasha, help," he said. "How do you get her to stop crying?"

Natasha reached into the diaper bag, pulled out the ladybug pacifier, and popped it in Stephy's mouth. Immediately, Stephy's wails tapered into little whimpers as she sucked.

"Oh," Clint said. "That was easy."

Natasha eased the baby out of his hands and rocked her gently in her arms. "Oh, I know. It was so traumatizing being left in Uncle Clint's care."

Clint huffed. "I had her a couple hours last week. And we were starting to get along so well. But now she hates me again."

"Babies can be really picky about people," Natasha said with a shrug. "If she's in a good mood, she probably couldn't care less who holds her. But if she's cranky, she'll just want certain people to hold her and if you're not on the top of her list, no matter what you do, she won't be happy."

"That's just mean," Clint said. He stuck out his tongue at the baby and she responded with a grunt and a scrunched face.

"Oops. Better get out of here before she starts crying again." Clint vaulted over the back of the couch and swung upwards into the vent.

Natasha stroked Stephy's head as she stared up at the ceiling. "Uncle Clint is a monkey. So don't try to copy any of his moves, okay? Save it for the professionals."

Tony padded back into the den, grinning from ear to ear. "According to Pepper, the board's making a presentation to the major stockbrokers next week. Some real big thing to announce all the new products we're coming out with this quarter, talk about the company's direction forward, and all that blah blah blah. But I'm supposed to be there to give a speech, which will reassure everyone that the company's doing fine and I'm not falling apart or anything like that. And that will be my formal announcement that I'm coming back from my leave of absence."

"That's great news," Steve said. "I know you're looking forward to getting back to work."

"I am. Not that I don't love hanging out with all of you. But there's just so much work that needs to get done."

"We understand," Steve said. "All the lifesaving, world-changing inventions don't make themselves."

Tony chuckled. "I guess that's one way of putting it." He scooped the baby out of Natasha's arms. "You hear that? Mommy's going back to work. It's exciting, isn't it?"

The baby spit out her pacifier and started whining.

"Oh, come on," Tony said. "You should be happy for me. And it's not like I'm really going anywhere. I'll be right downstairs in the lab. You can even come hang out and watch me while I work."

"It's not you," Natasha said. "She's just a little fussy right now."

"Huh." Tony furrowed his brow. "I changed you like half an hour ago. And you did have a nap. Is my baby hungry?"

"Clint tried feeding her already and she wasn't interested."

"I'll have a try anyway." Tony lifted his shirt and pressed the baby to his chest. She suckled for a minute or two and then started fussing again.

"Okay, Miss Crankypants. Looks like someone needs another nap." Tony hummed and rocked the baby in his arms as he headed for the elevator.

Once the baby was out of earshot, Bruce heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was starting to get a headache. I feel bad though. She sounds like she's in pain."

"Probably diaper rash," Natasha said.

Steve shook his head. "Tony would have seen that when he changed her."

"Perhaps she was bitten by one of your stinging insects at the park," Thor suggested.

"It is a possibility," Natasha said.

"Or she could just be tired and cranky. I know we all have days like that," Steve said.

"It's about to be one of those days," Natasha said. She reached into her pocket and plopped her phone down on the coffee table. The screen was lit up with SHIELD's symbol.

"Fuck!" Clint said from overhead. The vent opened and he dropped back down into the room.

"Somebody grab Tony," Steve said.

"Miss Potts has been alerted," Jarvis said. "And Sir is already heading for the launch pad."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Looking around, Steve saw the team already moving to gather their weapons and gear. By the time they started loading up the jet, Tony would be suited up and flying ahead to scout out the scene. It made him proud how efficient they had all become.

Steve swiped his thumb over the phone. "What's the situation?"

"Some big-ass mutant termites fucking up Lower Manhattan."

"Again?" Clint said. "Didn't we fight giant termites like five, six months ago?"

"Same shit, different day," Fury said. "This should be an easy one for you all. So get it handled." And then the call ended.

"You heard the man," Steve said. "Easy stuff. We start with the same strategy that worked last time and go from there." He tapped a finger to his earpiece. "Iron Man, you read me?"

"Loud and clear, babe," Tony said cheerfully. "What is it this time? Out of control robots? An army of acid-spitting snakes?"

"Giant termites."

"Again? Seriously?"

"Yes," Steve said. "So you know what to do. Keep them occupied. We'll be on our way." He made a quick stop to grab his shield from his room and shimmied into his uniform as the elevator took him down to the garage. Clint was already starting the launch sequence so he quickly scrambled inside and they were off.

When the Quinjet arrived on scene, Tony was visible in the sky, shooting down two termites that were attempting to scale an apartment building.

Steve jumped out of the back of the jet and threw his shield at the nearest termite, slicing its legs off. As it screeched and toppled towards the ground, Natasha put a few bullets through its head to finish it off. Thor threw his hammer at a termite, crushing it into the side of a building, and then rose into the air to assist Tony. And Clint was running through the streets, sliding under each termite to shoot at its underbelly, and then rolling out of the way as it collapsed.

"I think I'll sit this one out," Bruce said. "You all remember what happened last time, right?"

"Oh yeah," Tony said. "Hulk dismantled a cell phone tower and started hurling metal bits like spears."

"He stabbed a few, too," Clint added.

"Right. Well, it certainly worked. But people were pretty pissed about their cell reception."

"Bruce can start discussing clean-up with local authorities," Steve said. "And maybe keep one for research. If these things are going to keep popping up, we need answers."

"On it," Bruce said.

Just as Steve had hoped, the battle with the termites was a lot easier than it had been the first time. The bugs didn't behave any different than they had the time before, which was a relief. The team was so used to their villains upgrading their robots or creatures for each new attack, so it was nice to get off easy for a change.

It took just two hours to bring down all one hundred termites. And everyone double-checked to make sure they were all really, truly dead before turning the scene over to civilian authorities. Last time, one of the bugs had still been twitching when they got ready to leave and a volunteer firefighter had run screaming into the subway and had refused to come out until Tony blew a hole through the bug's body.

As usual, the police were very grateful for their help and the civilians that had been huddling in terror in their homes came out to thank the team for making the city safe again. Steve budgeted for an hour talking with the public and another half an hour to direct the clean-up crews before he excused the team from the area, citing the need for a debrief to the few citizens who were still eagerly following them around.

An entire mission complete with daylight left over. Steve really felt like celebrating this rare accomplishment.

Tony treated everyone to sushi since they had missed lunch battling the termites. Thor wolfed down an entire family sample platter, much to the astonishment of the chefs.

"Thank you, my friends," he said. "That was most delicious. May I have another?"

"You don't have to get another sampler," Tony said. "You can just order whichever ones you liked the most. So, let's say you weren't crazy about the California rolls because they're kind of blah, but you really liked the-"

"Watch it," Natasha said. "I happen to like California rolls."

Steve rolled his eyes as Natasha and Tony started arguing about which sushi rolls were the best. "Can we just have another sampler?" he said, offering the still shell-shocked chefs a reassuring smile.

Half an hour later, the team emerged from the restaurant in considerably better moods. Tony and Natasha had found common ground in their love of spicy crab and had made a truce. And Clint had ordered a bottle of sake and passed it around so everyone got to try a little. It wasn't Steve's favorite drink, but at least he could say he tried it.

Everyone was more than ready to head back to the Tower and enjoy having the rest of the afternoon off. And Tony was especially eager to see the baby again.

Pepper was waiting for them at the door, the baby in her arms.

"Stephy!" Tony exclaimed. "Did you miss me?"

The baby wailed and leaned halfway out of Pepper's arms to reach for Tony.

"What?" Tony said as he settled her over his shoulder. "What's the matter, baby girl?"

"Oh, I feel so bad," Pepper said. "She's been crying all afternoon and I didn't know what to do for her."

"Not your fault, Pep. She was crying all morning, too. I think she's teething." Tony patted Stephy's back. "Is that what's bothering you, sweetheart? Is your mouth hurting?"

Stephy grabbed a handful of Tony's shirt and started gnawing on it.

"Yep," Tony said. "I think that's the problem." He adjusted the baby in his arms and hummed as the baby began fussing again. "Oh, it's okay. We'll find something else for you to chew on. Something better than Mommy's ratty old t-shirt. Come on, let's go have a look."

"Oh, joy," Clint muttered. He craned his head to check that Tony was actually in the elevator. "So, we have a pissy baby to look forward to for how long now?"

Natasha shrugged. "Until all her teeth come in, probably. It might take up to a week for these first two to come in, and then the rest will come in as pairs, too."

Clint held up his hands and did a quick calculation on his fingers. "Fuck," he said. "That's a long-ass time."

"Nobody ever said babies were easy," Natasha said. "But relax. Once Tony figures out what soothes her, we'll know how to keep her calm through it."

Steve smiled. If anyone could keep the baby happy, it was Tony.


	22. Chapter 22

The next few days proved to be especially challenging. Despite Tony's best efforts to keep the baby distracted from the pain and occupied with plenty of chew toys, she still seemed miserable. She wasn't really eating, no matter who tried to feed her, probably because the spoon was irritating her mouth. All she wanted to do was nurse. Steve felt bad. They had just gotten the baby all these exciting new baby food flavors to try and Stephy was in too much pain to enjoy them.

She wasn't spending as much time crawling and playing as usual, either. She just wanted to be held. It didn't even matter who it was. So the team all took turns with her, trying to comfort her as much as possible. Considering the circumstances, Clint was actually happy about doing the shopping for the week.

The nights were especially hard. It took a long time to get her comfortable enough to go to sleep and by then, Tony was too upset to sleep. Especially after the baby woke up a few times in the middle of the night crying and needing to be soothed back to sleep.

"I'm just not going to go to bed," Tony said with sigh. "The baby needs me."

Although Steve knew Tony often pulled all-nighters and was capable of going several nights without sleep, he knew he couldn't keep that up forever.

So it was a relief to wake up one morning and see two little tooth nubs poking up through the baby's gums. It meant the end was finally in sight.

"Look at you, big girl," Tony said, bouncing the baby gently on his hip. "Once you get some more teeth in, we can graduate you to real food. Actual bananas and pears instead of that mushy stuff. And Cheerios. Cheerios are awesome."

"Mababa," Stephy said with half her fist jammed in her mouth.

"We at least get a break for a few weeks before then, right?" Clint asked hopefully. "I don't think I can stand going through this again tomorrow."

"You're always welcome to leave and go back to your old SHIELD quarters," Tony said. "I'm the one who promised to take care of the baby. If the rest of you just want to play with her when she's in a good mood and go into hiding every time it gets difficult, that's on you. But I'm going to be there for this baby no matter what."

"I don't think anybody's going anywhere," Steve murmured.

"Hell no," Clint said. "I might bitch about her teething but I'm here for you, man. You shouldn't have to put up with this alone."

"Language," Tony said.

Clint cleared his throat. "Okay, what I mean is, teething is the worst, but I'm not going to go off and leave you to fend for yourself."

Steve gently squeezed Tony's shoulder. "It's been a long week for all of us. We're tired and stressed. Let's just take the baby for her walk and then have a nice long nap."

Tony snorted derisively. "I don't need a nap. I'm fine."

"Come on, man," Clint said. "Sleep's important. If you don't get enough, it's hard to focus, you lose coordination and reaction times, maybe even-"

"My reaction time is just fine," Tony said stiffly. "I could challenge you to a Street Fighter match right now and kick you all the way into next Tuesday."

"Ha," Clint scoffed. "And I can punch you into next month."

Steve scooped the baby out of Tony's arms. "I want no part of any brawling, you two. And neither does the baby."

"Relax. It's not an actual fight," Clint said. "It's just a videogame."

"Oh," Steve said. "Like Smash Bros."

Clint exchanged a look with Tony. "Sort of. Kind of. Not really."

"Doesn't matter," Tony said with a dismissive wave. "Just get it set up. We'll be back in an hour to beat you to a pulp."

Steve knew there was no reasoning with Tony when he was this worked up. He would just burn with anger until he exhausted himself and then he'd finally take that much-needed nap.

When they returned from the walk, Clint had the game all set up and Natasha was casually lounging across the loveseat with a book.

Steve settled down on the couch with the baby on his lap, keeping her occupied with one of the unused controllers. It was a bit of a struggle to keep her from drooling all over it since he was pretty sure that would ruin the electronics. But the joysticks seemed to fascinate her.

Clint and Tony took the floor because nothing Steve said would ever deter them from sitting as close to the TV as possible.

Oddly, playing this fighting game seemed to calm Tony down. After fifteen minutes of playing, he and Clint were laughing together and just playfully trash-talking each other.

Between bouts, Tony stretched and leaned back to smile at the baby. "Look at you." He chucked her under the chin. "You're going to grow up into an awesome gamer just like your mama."

"You don't want to be like your mom," Clint said. "I'm beating him."

"By one round," Steve reminded him. Clint and Tony were actually pretty evenly matched.

"So, after I kick Clint's butt in the next few rounds, you want to have a go with me?"

"I don't think so," Steve said. "I don't know how to play."

"Just watch me and Clint," Tony said. "We'll show you how it's done."

"I don't see how that's going to help."

"Look, I know you're really good at strategy. You just have to see us in action a few times and you'll come up with a way to beat us. Just like in the field."

Steve sighed. It was nice that Tony had so much confidence in him, but strategy wasn't exactly the problem. He could watch Clint and Tony's characters spar all day, but that still wasn't going to help him figure out how to get his character to do the move he wanted. He needed to take a look at the manual.

He took a quick glance down at Tony's hands and back up at the screen. Or maybe if he really paid attention he could figure it out himself.

"Somebody's phone," Clint said, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Might be mine. Pause it for a sec." Tony fished around in the couch cushions and pulled out his phone. "Yep, definitely mine. Oh, hey, it's a call from the board." He frowned. "They've never called me directly before. Usually they tell Pepper whatever it is that they want and then she nags me about it."

"Are you ignoring Pepper's phone calls again?" Natasha asked with a pointed look.

"No," Tony said. He paused. "At least, I don't think so. I haven't had my phone with me all day."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's what I thought. The board's probably getting concerned that you're not answering and they want to make sure you're coming to their presentation. And make sure you're actually aware that there's a presentation."

"Which I am and I am," Tony said. He gave Steve an apologetic look. "Sorry, babe. I gotta take this."

"You do what you need to do," Steve said. "The game can wait."

Tony slipped out of the room, phone pressed to his ear. "Stark. Hey, Davis. What can I do for you?"

Clint groaned loudly. "This is going to take forever. Come on, Steve, play me a round."

"Uhh," Steve said uncertainly.

"Just put her in the playpen for a few minutes," Natasha suggested. "She'll probably enjoy getting down to play."

Of course. Tony had stressed how important it was to let the baby have play time on her stomach. And in the playpen, she could crawl around as much as she wanted to without them worrying about her messing with the cords or anything.

Steve settled the baby in the playpen with a few blocks to play with and then plopped down on the floor next to Clint.

After a few rounds, all of which Steve lost pretty badly, Clint started getting tired of playing. "This is so boring," he complained. "Can you at least try and give me a challenge?"

"You want a challenge?" Natasha asked. She carefully shut her book and set it beside her.

Clint swallowed. "Yeah, okay," he said. "Let's do this."

"Steve, would you mind taking the baby somewhere safer?" Natasha asked serenely. "There's about to be a lot of bloodshed in here and I don't want her caught in the crossfire."

Steve quickly scooped up the baby and took her down the hall. Distantly, he could hear Clint start swearing so he pressed the baby tighter against his chest so he could cover her ears.

Tony still wasn't done with his phone call, so Steve played with the baby in her room for awhile and then opened a can of formula for a small feeding before her nap. And once he finally got the baby settled in, he wandered down to the gym to hit the bags for awhile. Something to get his mind off how badly he had done at Street Fighter.

"Captain Rogers, Sir is in need of your assistance in the lab," Jarvis said.

"Okay. I'll head down right after this set." Steve aimed another blow at the punching bag.

"Your immediate assistance," Jarvis said firmly.

Steve froze. The punching bag caught him square in the chest on the upswing and he stumbled backwards a few steps. He coughed. "Is he...is he okay?"

His mind cycled through all the possible ways Tony could injure himself in his lab. Another fire, maybe. Getting himself pinned under some of the heavier equipment. Electrocution, even. Tony worked with some pretty deadly hazards.

"Sir is in distress," Jarvis said. "And I fear he may cause himself harm if he is left alone in his current state."

"I'm on my way." Steve ripped off his gloves and tossed them aside, not bothering to see where they landed before he was out the door.

He took the stairs two at a time and made it down three flights in record time. The lab doors slid open and Steve stared in shock as Tony paced around with a bottle of whiskey clutched in one hand.

"I just can't do this, J," Tony muttered. "I just can't. I don't know what else to do."

"Tony?" Steve asked cautiously.

"Steve!" Tony jerked back in surprise and the bottle slipped out of his hand, shattering into pieces on the floor. He covered his face with his hands. "I can't do anything right today."

"Hey, no," Steve said. "That's not true." He reached out and took Tony by the shoulders, carefully leading him around the broken glass to the couch in the corner. He pulled Tony down into his lap and just held him while he shook. "I'm here for you, baby," he assured the omega. "I don't know what's going on, but I'll take care of it."

Tony shook his head. "You can't. The board changed their minds about the stockholder's meeting." He heaved a sigh. "Before we talk about the future of the company, they want to talk about the past. The beginnings of Stark Industries under Dad's leadership. And I know he created a bunch of good shit, but anybody could talk about that. They want personal anecdotes. Some fond childhood memory or amusing story. And I can't think of a single good thing to say about him. My own dad." Tony laughed bitterly. "I'm so fucked. I might as well just resign."

Steve's jaw clenched. "Not going to happen. I'm going to call Pepper right now and-"

"No, don't," Tony said desperately. "If Pepper tells them I can't handle it, that'll give them an excuse to declare me mentally unfit and force me out. You can't let them do that."

"I won't," Steve said soothingly. He rubbed Tony's back. "But maybe Pepper can help. Find some way to make this easier for you."

Tony sighed. "I doubt even she can help. It's sad, really. When I brought back the Stark Expo, I put on a tape of dear old Dad explaining the thing and went offstage to drink. That's the only way I cope with having to make speeches about him. Alcohol and more alcohol. And I can't this time. It'll be too easy for me to slip up and tell the world what a shitty father he was. That would piss off the board and the stockholders."

"Maybe she can help you write your speech," Steve said. "Do a little research into the archives and find some interesting project he worked on. Something most people don't know about."

"Sir," Jarvis said gently. "The baby is awake."

Tony dabbed at his eyes and moved to get up. "I'll get her."

Steve tightened his grip on Tony's waist. "Call one of the others, Jarvis. Tony's still dealing with the board right now."

"Of course, Captain Rogers."

Tony smiled weakly. "My poor baby. Being at the mercy of the others because Mama's in this big mess."

"This is not your fault," Steve said firmly. "This isn't a test, this is torture. They know you're more than capable of working again, so it's bullshit that they would try to exploit your weaknesses and keep you out. If you're gone, who's going to make all the tech? The company's going to just die out."

Tony shrugged. "Maybe they'll hire another weapons manufacturer. They were never too keen on giving that up. I managed to make alternative energy and communications equipment profitable enough that they couldn't really get rid of me then, but if I'm gone, there's no doubt they'll go back to the old model." He sighed. "All my work for nothing."

Steve cupped his hands around Tony's face. "Promise me you're not giving up that easily. You can beat them at their own game. I know you can."

"Nobody can beat them at their own game," Tony said with a sigh. "You've heard about Obadiah Stane, right? My former business partner and weaselly, backstabbing bitch? They conspired with him to lock me out after Afghanistan. And after all the years I thought he had my back, trusted him with all my struggles, he still went and used my gland to-"

"Your business partner raped you?" Steve asked in disbelief.

Tony shook his head. "Tried to kill me. All he needed to do was press that stupid thing to my neck and I was paralyzed with fear. I could only watch as he ripped the arc reactor out of my chest and then fucking gloated about it. Once I was dead, no doubt the board would have replaced me with Stane."

"But it didn't happen," Steve said. "Because you're stronger than they give you credit for."

"Just lucky, really. Thank god for Pepper."

Steve shook his head. "I still have half a mind to call her and tell her what bullshit the board's pulling behind her back. But you're probably right. If they've been plotting a hostile takeover and forcing you to hide all those rapes, nothing Pepper will say will convince them to go easier on you. They're too far up their own asses to care about anything besides profits."

Tony snuggled into his chest. "I love it when you get worked up enough to cuss. It's hot."

Steve stroked his hair. "It's so easy to get worked up on your behalf. Because I love you and I hate seeing all this shit piled on you. I'm going to be there to help you get through this, okay? No matter what you need from me. The others, too."

Tony smiled weakly. "I really appreciate it. You'll come to the meeting, won't you? I know it's boring business stuff that nobody actually-"

"If you want me to be there, I'll be there," Steve said firmly. "I'll even stand on stage with you while you give your speech if that's what you need."

"As tempting as that sounds, it's probably a bad idea. Everyone will be asking questions about why you're there and that's not going to go over real well."

"Still," Steve said, "I'll be there and having moral support will be helpful."

Tony nodded. "I feel better about the whole thing already."

"Good. Why don't we go back upstairs and see how Stephy's doing?"

Tony brightened, just as Steve had been hoping. "That's right. She just woke up from a nap." He hopped off Steve's lap and skirted the broken glass. "Hey, Dummy, clean this up, will you?"

The bot let out a long whistle that sounded almost like a sigh.

"Yes, I know," Tony said. "You didn't break it this time. But I still want you to clean it up. Life's not always fair."

With a sullen series of beeps, Dummy rolled out of his corner clutching a broom.

"Hey, I don't want to hear that kind of language, young man," Tony said sternly. "I'm going to be back later this afternoon. And by the time I get back, this better all be cleaned up. And you better not give me any more attitude or I'll toss your tennis balls in the trash."

Dummy whined piteously.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Tony said. "Don't let it happen again." He looped his arm with Steve. "Come on, let's leave him to it."

Steve kissed Tony's forehead as the elevator doors closed. He loved seeing Tony parent the bots.

The elevator doors opened with a glimpse into the den where Clint was sprawled out across the floor with a stuffed animal perched on his chest. The baby was on the other side of the room, loudly banging blocks together, looking like she was completely ignoring him.

Steve chuckled. "Poor Clint. Well, points for effort, anyway." He started to step out of the elevator.

Tony held up a hand. "Wait," he said quietly. "Watch."

After a few moments, Stephy looked up from her play and seemed to notice Clint, or more importantly, the stuffed rabbit, for the first time. She dropped her block, stretched out onto her hands and knees, and briskly crawled over to Clint.

"Just look at her" Tony said reverently. "It seems like just last week she was slowly dragging herself around and now she's barreling across the room like it's nothing. She's getting so big."

"Aaaah, I'm being mauled by a vicious baby," Clint said as Stephy reached for the rabbit. He lifted her up and pressed her against his neck. "Help, she's ripping me apart with her sharp little teeth."

Steve snorted into the back of his hand.

"We are such a weird family," Tony muttered.

"But we are a family," Steve said. "That's the important thing."


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm dealing with a troll right now who read one of my other omega-verse stories with mpreg, I'm in the market for more mpreg prompts to work on. I'm specifically interested in Stucky, Stuckony, Phlint...and possibly Loki.
> 
> If you have an idea that you want written, feel free to discuss it in the comment section, or post a prompt over on Avengerkink. Because the best way to defeat a troll is to keep doing exactly what they hate.

When Tony talked about the speech he was making for the board at dinner, the rest of the team was outraged, just as Steve knew they would be. Clint talked again about storming headquarters and overthrowing the board. And Thor was nodding along with every word.

"Let's not get too carried away," Steve cautioned. "The board definitely needs to be replaced, but we can't march in there and stage a coup."

"Why not?" Clint demanded. "Those evil assholes are kicking him out of his own company. Are we supposed to just sit around and let that happen?"

"No," Steve said. "But we can't use force against people that aren't a threat. That automatically makes us the bad guys in the public's eyes." He put up a hand to stall Clint's protests. "I know. I know they're putting Tony's company in jeopardy. But the general public doesn't care about corporate takeovers. So if we march into company headquarters, they'll see it as attacking innocent civilians. And given how much pressure SHIELD's under already, we shouldn't put them in a position where they'll have to decide whether we're too powerful for our own good. I don't want to see us get shut down, or worse, imprisoned."

"Then what the hell are we going to do? We can't let them get away with this shit."

"What we're going to do," Steve said, "is support Tony. The board of directors has only been able to get away with being bullies because they've managed to portray Tony as irresponsible and reckless and make themselves look like the responsible, reasonable people trying to keep the company afloat. But we can turn that around. People are starting to realize the depth of Tony's character and sympathize with his pain. After this speech, Tony's going to endear himself to the public even more. And if the board dares to bench him after this, the public outcry will do our jobs for us. So let's make sure Tony knows we have his back so he can get through this."

Clint whooped loudly and waved his spoon in the air. "Hell yes. Let's show those motherfuckers."

Tony cleared his throat. "You don't all have to come, you know. It's boring shit, for the most part. Speeches, presentations, painfully polite conversation."

Steve nodded. "Anyone who feels that they wouldn't be able to control themselves if the board pulls something else should stay home with the baby."

"Which would be you," Clint said. "I've seen how you get when people threaten Tony. Punch first, ask questions later."

"Nope," Steve said firmly. "I promised Tony I would be there for him, so I'm going to be there. I can keep a cool head if it's for his sake."

"So can the rest of us."

"I'm not so sure about that," Natasha said as she wiped her knife with a napkin. "Weren't you just saying something about tying people to chairs and setting them on fire?"

Clint shrugged. "Figure of speech."

Natasha gave him a disapproving look until he sighed heavily and mumbled something under his breath about missing out on all the action.

"I think it wise if I stayed home as well," Thor said. "It will be difficult for me to just sit by and watch while these people speak ill of our friend."

"And I don't do well in crowds," Bruce put in. "If there's going to be any hostility going on, it's going to be even worse."

Steve nodded. "So, Nat and I will go with Tony." He squeezed Tony's shoulder. "We all fully support you, but it's probably for the best if only the two of us came along with you."

"I know," Tony said. "It says a lot about you guys that you're this angry on my behalf."

"And it's weird for me," Clint said. "I'm a beta. I don't usually get this pissed off about assholes causing trouble for someone in the pack. That's the alpha's job. I'm just supposed to help kick ass once we find the threat."

"We're not exactly a typical pack," Steve said. "I don't think any of us fit the molds of our orientation. But that's what I like about us."

Tony smiled as he started clearing the dishes from the table. Natasha and Bruce jumped up to help him and Steve managed to coax Tony into the den with a cup of coffee.

"Let the others clean up for a change," he said. "You've done enough already. Just relax for the night."

"I can't relax," Tony muttered, even as he snuggled further into the couch. "Not until I figure out what I'm going to say in my speech."

"You've got another couple of days to worry about that," Steve reminded him. "Take it easy for a bit." He lifted the baby out of her playpen and settled her in Tony's lap.

Tony kissed the baby's cheeks. "I've missed you, kiddo. I haven't seen you for a whole hour. Horrible, isn't it?" He chuckled and pressed another kiss to her forehead. "Sure, Steve, I'll take a little break from speechwriting to spend with my little angel. Want to get me a book off the shelf to read to her?"

Steve selected one of the little board books off the shelf and settled in on the loveseat to watch Tony read to the baby. Tony put in plenty of effort, mimicking the sounds of the different animals and taking the baby's hand to feel all the textures. The baby seemed fascinated with the whole experience, but as soon as Tony closed the book, she wrapped her hands around it and tried to jam it into her mouth.

"Books are for reading, not eating," Tony said with a shake of his head. "You silly girl." He stroked the baby's hair affectionately. "I can give you something else to keep your mouth busy."

It took very little to convince the baby to abandon the book and nurse instead. She took to nursing so eagerly, but it was hard to tell if Tony or the baby got the most out of the experience. The baby got fed, of course, but Tony always seemed so relaxed and content afterward.

After the baby drifted off into her post-feeding nap and Tony had settled her into her crib, Steve pulled him aside to briefly touch his gland. Because Tony always had an easier time when he was already in a good mood. Of course, Steve still followed up with hugs and ice cream, but Tony made it through with a lot less trauma. And that was the whole point. Doing whatever it took to make it easier on him.

"Now I really have to go and work on my speech," Tony murmured into Steve's chest. "If anybody needs me, I'll be down in the lab."

Steve patted his back comfortingly. "And you let me know if you need any help. I knew Howard briefly, too. I bet I could tell you a couple stories."

Tony's mouth curved upward. "I might take you up on that offer. But maybe later." He ducked out of Steve's arms.

Steve stayed out of Tony's way for the next three days. It was important that the genius knew everybody had his back and was willing to be there for him if he needed help, but it was also important to give Tony his independence and let him work things through on his own. Steve knew full well how well Tony had managed to steel himself to meet most of the conflicts in his life. He had gone through so much in his life, but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Since it was Thor's week to cook, the only time Steve interfered was to make sure Tony was getting all his meals. The omega was much better at looking after the baby than feeding himself. He still couldn't believe he had ever thought Tony was a self-centered jerk. It was clear to him now how readily Tony put everyone's interests above his own.

The day before the meeting was scheduled, Tony decided he was done with his speech and wanted to spend the rest of the day making sure Steve and Natasha got seats in the front row so he could see them from the stage and working on what they were all going to wear.

But even though he had gotten it all settled the day before, on the morning of the presentation, Tony was still a nervous wreck, flitting around back and forth to fuss over everyone's outfits and make sure Thor, Clint, and Bruce remembered they were supposed to be looking after the baby.

Thor had gone to ensure his quarters were weapon-free and Bruce had escaped down to the lab, leaving Clint alone to hear Tony's last-minute instructions.

"Yes, yes, we got this," Clint said with an eye roll as Tony reminded them again that they needed to check the temperature before they gave the baby her bottle.

"We're going to be late," Natasha warned.

"Yes, we need to start heading out," Steve agreed. He eased the baby out of Tony's hands and into Clint's.

"You're going to be the luckiest little lady in the world," Clint said as he hoisted the baby onto his shoulder. "Because you have three awesome dudes looking after you tonight. Maybe Bruce will even whip you up a batch of his curry." He turned to Tony. "Can she have curry?"

"No, too spicy."

"Not even a little taste?"

"Why do you want to give her curry that badly? You don't even like the stuff."

"Hey, I'm just trying to put a little variety in her diet. Let her figure out what she does and doesn't like herself." He chucked the baby under the chin. "We'll ask Mommy again when you're a little older. In the meantime, we'll have to stick to the basics. Maybe throw a few fruits and veggies in the food processor and see what happens."

"Is it really a good idea to leave Stephy with those three?" Tony whispered to Steve. "Should I call Pepper to help out?"

"Pepper's probably going to be at the board meeting," Steve reminded him. "And anyway, I think they need a chance to bond with the baby. It'll be a good thing."

He watched the baby squeal with laughter as Clint blew a raspberry against her stomach. Clint really needed more time with the baby while she was in a good mood. The poor man had really tried with her when she was grumpy and teething.

"Don't worry about the baby," Steve advised. "She'll be in good hands. You just need to worry about your speech."

"See you in a couple hours, Clint," Natasha said as she pushed Tony in the direction of the elevator.

Clint held up the baby's arm and helped her wave goodbye.

"Bye, sweetheart," Tony called as the elevator doors closed in front of him.

Steve let out a sigh of relief. It had felt like they'd never be able to get Tony to leave her.

Tony was silent for the whole car ride over to the event, but as soon as they arrived, he plastered on a fake smile and began chatting to the press stationed out front like everything was fine and he this was just a routine thing. But he had Steve's hand in a death grip the entire time, pulling him along with him to pose for pictures together. Natasha followed at a leisurely pace, looking calm and collected, but her eyes never stopped scanning the crowd.

After the smiles for the paparazzi, outside the door, Tony made his rounds schmoozing with stockholders and making polite small-talk with the board members. Steve stuck by his side the whole time.

As they walked away from the board to take their seats up front, Tony whispered to Steve, "Don't let any of them get me alone. Whatever they have to say to me, they have to be able to say in front of you."

Steve squeezed his shoulder. "I won't let you out of my sight."

Tony took his seat, Natasha and Steve taking up positions on either side. It would be comforting for the omega to be insulated from the rest of the world, but he was still twitchy, fiddling with his phone, where his speech was probably all typed up.

At last, one of the board members walked on stage to make the opening remarks, thanking all the important people for coming, briefly going over the event's agenda, and then calling Tony on stage for his speech.

"You'll do great," Steve shouted to him over the applause.

Tony flashed him a nervous, but appreciative smile and bounded on stage, his face already schooled into another fake smile. He waved to the crowd, waited for the applause to die down. "Didn't know you all missed me that much," he said with a smirk.

The crowd laughed and then slowly quieted down to listen to his speech.

Tony's expression became a little more serious. "I know you're all here today because you're concerned about the future of the company. And I'm here to reassure you that you have nothing to worry about. The company is as sound as it's ever been. I'll be back at work next week, working out some of the kinks in our new product releases and by next quarter, everything will be right back on schedule."

Tony's smile dimmed just a little. "It's easy to forget that this company hasn't always been the giant tech leader it is now. Way back in the 40's, my dad was nothing more than a dreamer who thought he could somehow make flying cars a thing. But most of you never met that man. There are only a few of you now who actually knew my dad. And even less who knew him in his younger days." Tony's mouth twitched. "Actually, there might only be one person now. Steve Rogers." He smiled beatifically as he crooked one finger into a summons.

Steve smiled as he stepped on stage. Clever Tony. This was the perfect excuse to have him standing beside him while he made his speech. Nobody could make it out as a sign of weakness now.

Tony slung an arm around his shoulders. "This beautiful hunk of muscles right here is the result of dad's first big success. Project Rebirth. We've all seen the pictures, right?" He gestured behind him.

The audience murmured in surprise and Steve craned his head to look. On-screen was a shirtless picture of him taken before the serum.

"Huge difference," Tony said. "Dr. Erskine's work, mostly. The Supersoldier Serum. But my father built the equipment to get that serum into Stevie's veins and he was there working the controls the day it all went down. And this is the same man Stevie watched fail to make a car actually fly. God only knows what he saw in my dad to make him believe it would all work out. But I'm sure glad he did."

Tony cleared his throat. "This is the kind of company I want us to be moving forward. The kind that believes we can create amazing new technology the world has never seen before. The kind that wants to really change the world as we know it. And more importantly, a company that consumers believe in." He flashed the audience another smile, a little more genuine this time. "I'm not promising flying cars just yet, but I am promising exciting new inventions in the works. Thank you all for your time."

Tony's exit was followed by a thunderous round of applause. Details of the expected product launch dates splashed across the screen behind him and one of the board members began explaining the technical aspects to the shareholders, something Tony would have been better suited for, but he had done just fine playing the charming CEO.

"You did great," Steve said as he followed Tony off the stage. "Everyone loved it."

"Well, I got the regular people on my side anyway," Tony murmured. "Now I just got to work on the board. And that'll be the hard part."

"But you've done wonderfully so far," Steve said. "I know you're going to get through this."

He led Tony over to the table set up in the back of the room for refreshments. The big presentation was winding down and people were already starting to get up and talk amongst themselves. There'd still be plenty of questions and Tony would likely have to stick around for a couple hours to talk to important investors, but at least it looked like his speech had helped reassure most people that he wasn't having a nervous breakdown.

"Bruschetta or mini crab cake?" Steve inquired.

"What, no lobster or caviar?" Tony asked with a crooked smile. "I thought this was a high-quality establishment."

"Mr. Stark," someone called from behind them. "Can we have a word?"

Tony stiffened. "Oh god, it's them," he whispered hoarsely.

Steve slipped his hand into Tony's as he turned around to face them. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said to the three portly middle-aged men standing before them. "It was a good speech, wasn't it?"

"A very good speech," one man agreed with a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And now we have business we need to discuss with Mr. Stark. So, if you will excuse us, Captain."

"Anything you have to say to him, you can say in front of me," Steve said cheerfully. "Isn't that right, Tony?"

Tony nodded vigorously. "I tell Steve everything."

The second man's jaw twitched. But he managed to compose himself. "We've noticed that you have yet to see a doctor or a therapist," he said.

"I don't need one," Tony said. "I took time off work to heal and do a lot of thinking instead of making any impulsive announcements like I did after Afghanistan. And that's what you've been trying to prevent, right? Well, I've taken the time to cool off and I'm ready to return to business as usual. So we're all square, right?"

"The board still believes it's in your best interest to see a therapist," the third man said. "This kind of emotional trauma can be very damaging to an omega's psyche." Steve was appalled to see a glint of satisfaction in the man's eyes, knowing he was implying Tony was weak.

"I'm fine," Tony said. "I've been talking things out with the team and they all agree I'm doing a lot better. Jarvis even told me he think I'm ready to report back to work."

"I wouldn't trust the opinion of an A.I. you created yourself, Mr. Stark."

"And even Steve think I'm fine. Do you really want to argue with Captain America's judgment?"

Steve raised an eyebrow.

The first man cleared his throat. "We are only looking after your best interests, Mr. Stark. If you really believe you're ready to return, we won't stop you. But it's on record that we advised you against this."

"Noted," Tony said dryly.

Steve stared the men down until they began to look uncomfortable and murmured something about tending to the rest of the guests before they wandered off.

Tony's face lit up in a wide grin. "We did it, Steve. We really did it."

"You did it," Steve said, nuzzling into Tony's neck. "I'm so proud of you."

Tony went limp into his arms. "God, I'm ready to blow this popsicle stand. Do something to celebrate being free from their evil clutches for now. It feels great being able to work on my shit again, Steve, you have no idea."

Steve chuckled. "So, is that how you want to celebrate? And inventing session in the lab?"

Tony pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Way back in the day, I'd reward myself for getting through one of these stupid things by having someone blow me in the bathroom afterward."

Steve shrugged. "We could do that if you want."

"Hell no. I want to get out of here as soon as possible." Tony winked salaciously. "But we can do that when we get home."

Steve grinned as he followed after him to retrieve Natasha. It was so good to finally see all the tension lifted off of Tony's shoulders.


	24. Chapter 24

Tony was still in high spirits when they got home. “I can’t wait to see my baby to tell her how good her mama did,” he said proudly. He poked his head into the kitchen.“Clint? Thor? Where the hell is everybody?”

“In here,” Natasha called from the den.

Steve followed after Tony, stopping in the doorway to observe the scene.

Clint was sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep. And the baby was curled up beside him.

Tony beamed. “I take back everything I said about Clint being a bad babysitter.”

“I heard that,” Clint mumbled.

Natasha smiled and stroked Clint’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Good afternoon, Sleepyhead. Baby tired you out already?”

Clint grunted and pried open one eye. “You’re all back early, aren’t you?”

“Get in, get it done, and get out,” Tony said cheerfully. “I think Pepper will forgive me for skipping out a little early this time.”

Clint stretched leisurely and covered a yawn with the back of his hand. “Wow. Last thing I remember, Bruce was reading this really boring story about electrons to the baby.” He grimaced as he shifted position. “It would have been smarter if I had sat with her on the couch.”

“Not really,” Tony said. “She could have rolled off the couch in her sleep or rolled over and smothered in the cushions. The floor was really the better choice.”

“Huh,” Clint said. “Finally did something right for once.”

“So, where’s everybody else?” 

Clint shrugged. “Don’t ask me, man. I don’t know where Bruce headed after I fell asleep. But Thor was on the phone arguing with some guy about alligator steaks, last I heard. Something about how we won’t get an authentic Asgardian dish unless we get some big scaly swamp critter in our bowls.”

Steve sighed. “I’ll go straighten him out.”

“Nah,” Tony said. “I’ll take care of it. I actually might be able to get alligator meat shipped in, but not in time for dinner tonight, of course. Even I’m not that good. I’ll just have to talk Thor into something else for tonight.”

“Later,” Steve said. He draped an arm over Tony’s shoulder. “I’ve got to give you your reward for making it through the speech.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please.”

“Oh god,” Clint moaned. “It’s some gross sex thing, isn’t it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Natasha said. She smiled brightly at them. “Clint and I will take care of Stephy for a little while longer. You two go have fun.”

Steve led Tony up to their bedroom and eased him down onto the bed. Giving Tony a blowjob was a lot easier the second time now that Tony had apparently decided Steve’s alpha-ness wouldn’t be threatened by sucking an omega’s cock. And the trauma of being forced to make that speech had probably put him in a mindset where he felt deserving of a reward. Steve was going to have to work on Tony’s self-esteem issues and get him to the point where he was receptive to good morning blowjobs and goodnight blowjobs and just because blowjobs. But this was a start.

Tony was relaxed and languid after sex, wanting nothing more than kisses and cuddles. And Steve was happy to stay in bed with him for another hour, just taking care of him.

But then Jarvis announced that everyone else was sitting down to dinner, if they wanted to join them. And Steve did have to admit that he was getting pretty hungry. One of the downsides to a fast metabolism. 

With a lot of whining, Tony reluctantly rolled out of bed and accompanied Steve downstairs to the dining room, where everybody else was already seated around the table.

“There you two are,” Clint said. “Thor’s just about to bring in dinner. He looked up some gumbo recipe online. Apparently it’s got lots of crab and lobster and shrimp and mussels in it so he’s willing to give up on the alligator for tonight.”

Tony’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think that’s all supposed to be part of gumbo.”

Thor stepped into the dining room, lugging the industrial-sized stock pot.

“Greetings, my friends,” he said cheerfully as he set the pot down in the middle of the table. “I have been learning all about your Midgardian cuisines. Your gumbo, your jambalaya, your curry, your chowders. All fascinating combinations.”

Natasha looked concerned. “You didn’t mix all those dishes together, did you?”

“I did indeed.”

Clint snatched the lid off the pot and sniffed. “Okay, not as bad as I thought.”

Steve decided to be brave and take the first helping. From what he could tell, Thor’s new dish was just a bunch of meat and seafood in a creamy, slightly spicy broth. And it really wasn’t that bad. Considering that Thor had tossed together so many ingredients without a recipe, it was a good effort. Everything was cooked properly, nothing burnt. But Steve couldn’t help feel like something was missing. Maybe he had just gotten too used to Tony’s cooking.

Tony had a faraway look in his eyes as he chewed, probably breaking down the dish in his mind and thinking about what he would have done differently.

Clint pointed at Thor with his spoon. “You know what this is missing?”

“I did not neglect the bacon,” Thor said.

“I noticed. And I appreciate that. But it’s missing something else.”

“And what would that be, my friend?”

“Vegetables.”

“Ah,” Steve said. That’s what was off about it. Too much meat, not enough vegetables.

“There are vegetables,” Thor protested. “There are bits of bell peppers, corn, and cabbage.”

“Have you thought about adding celery?” Tony asked. “And onions?”

“Onions aren’t vegetables,” Bruce pointed out. “And I’m not sure about the celery.”

Tony shrugged. “It would help.”

“I’m sorry, Thor,” Steve said gently. “It’s not that the food is bad, it’s just-”

“Not Tony’s cooking?” Thor asked with a smile.

“Something like that,” Steve said with an answering smile as Tony rested his head against Steve’s side.

“You guys keep talking like this and it’s going to go to my head,” Tony murmured.

“Good.” Steve leaned down to kiss Tony’s forehead. “You need to know how amazing you are.”

After dinner, Tony let Clint talk him into watching a sci-fi movie with the rest of the team. Tony settled into the seat next to Steve and rested his head in his lap.

It wasn’t a great movie. The special effects would have been astounding in Steve’s day, but after all the modern movies he had seen, they just looked hokey now. Bruce spent most of the time groaning about the bad physics and Clint complained about the rest of it.

“This is what they consider advanced technology?” Clint said scornfully. “Tony could have made this when he was twelve.”

“Tony doesn’t exist in this world,” Bruce pointed out.

“Right. This has to be a world where only Tony’s dumb board of directors exists. And as you can see, they can’t make shit.”

Tony muffled his snort against Steve’s leg.

Once the movie was over, Tony retrieved the baby from her playpen and let Thor read her a story about mischievous mice before he took her upstairs to bathe her and put her to bed.

“It feels so nice to have things back to normal,” Steve said as Tony climbed into bed with him.

“Normal. Ha. When has normal ever described any of our lives?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, not really,” Tony said. “None of this is normal to me. For the first time in my life, I actually feel free. The board’s off my back for the moment, all of the shit I’ve gone through is out in the open and nobody’s making a big deal out of it, the team’s being great, and I’m actually curled up beside an alpha who has no intention of pounding me into the mattress tonight.”

“If you want more sex, all you had to do was ask,” Steve said.

Tony snorted. “I’m trying to make a point here and all you heard was sex. Stop thinking with your dick, Steve. I’m embarrassed for you.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You brought it up first.”

“This is what I’m talking about,” Tony said. “I get to sass you like that and not worry about you getting mad and feeling like I don’t know my place. It’s not normal for me.”

“It’s the new normal,” Steve said. “Better get used to it.”

“I’m trying,” Tony said. “Part of me still thinks this is all going way too well right now and I’m just waiting for things to get fucked up again. And if everything goes to shit again, at least I can look back on how good life is right now.” He gave Steve a small smile. “But if I lose everything else, at least I’ll still have you, right?”

“Absolutely,” Steve said. “For as long as you want me.”

Tony covered a yawn with the back of his hand and nuzzled into Steve’s chest. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Steve stroked Tony’s back until his breathing evened out.

It was depressing how little Tony still seemed to think he deserved. Being treated like a human being by the world was the bare minimum he should expect, but Tony was acting like everybody had gone above and beyond to be good to him. And while Steve would certainly agree that the team had done a great job being there for Tony when he needed their support, he wasn’t so sure about the rest of the world. Some journalists out there were probably still speculating about whether the incident with the senator was a stunt. And nobody deserved to be treated like that.

But at least Tony was moving in the right direction. It had taken a lot of courage to admit that he had been raped and mistreated and had covered it up. And now he no longer had to hide.

Steve held Tony close as he drifted off to sleep. The world may never be perfect, but he wasn’t going to stop fighting until Tony’s life was better.

When he woke up, Tony was still fast asleep so he just pressed a quick kiss to the genius’ forehead and headed down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

Tony wandered in half an hour later, still looking half-asleep. But it was a good look on him.

“Morning, Tony,” Steve said. “Sleep well?”

“Morning,” Tony said. He eyed Steve suspiciously. “What’s gotten you in such a good mood this morning?”

“I’m just happy for you,” Steve said. “It’s the first day of the rest of your life. I can’t wait to see what exciting things you do now.” 

“Exciting, eh?” Tony waggled an eyebrow suggestively and leaned back against the counter with one hip cocked. “I have plenty of moves to excite you.”

“Eww,” Clint said from somewhere overhead. “I was thinking of coming down and having breakfast, but not if you two are going to be fucking.”

Tony straightened up and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, darling. I thought we were alone.”

Steve hooked an arm over Tony’s shoulder. “Let’s go for our walk so Clint can have his breakfast without having to listen to us.”

“Damn right,” Clint said, dropping down into the kitchen.

All throughout the walk, Tony rambled on about the things he was going to make for Stark Industries now that he was off probation. And he didn’t stop when they got back home and were sitting around the kitchen counter eating scrambled eggs and English muffins. It was just so good to see him excited about science again.

After breakfast, Tony disappeared down into the lab with the baby. Steve hit the gym for a little while and then decided to go out for a run. He loved the early morning walks with Tony and the baby, but he had really missed going for a nice long run. It wasn’t the same at this later hour. It was a lot hotter outside and the park was a little more crowded. Oh well. If he wanted a run, he’d just have to get up earlier next time.

By the time he returned to the Tower, it was almost lunch time. He headed straight for the kitchen.

“Welcome back, Captain Rogers,” Jarvis said. “I trust your run was satisfying?”

“Always.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. “How’s Tony doing? Having fun working on his projects again?”

“He is indeed. And as usual, is very absorbed in his work. I would suggest taking something down to him for lunch. And if you’re not in the mood for cooking, Sir is rather fond of the sandwiches from the 10th Street Deli.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks, Jarvis. I’ll make sure he gets something to eat.” 

It always warmed his heart when others fussed over Tony.

There was plenty of fruit in the fruit basket, but the sandwich fixings were starting to look a little pitiful, so Steve decided he was going to make a quick trip out for sandwiches, making sure to grab an extra to take home to Tony.

When Steve went to check up on him, Tony had the baby on his hip as he pointed out the various components of his suit on a holographic screen. The baby probably wasn’t listening to a single word he said, but she was staring at the screen with wide eyes and open-mouthed awe. Steve could understand. Tony’s tech was mind-blowing for an adult. He could only imagine how amazing it must seem to a child.

He would have been content to keep watching Tony interact with the baby for hours, but the food wasn’t going to be good that long. Finally, he decided to announce his presence by dropping the tray down on the counter.

Tony jerked out of science mode with a startled expression that quickly softened once he realized it was him. “Oh, look, it’s Daddy,” he said. “What did Daddy bring us for lunch?” He grinned at Steve playfully.

Steve smiled back. “A reuben sandwich, an apple, and a banana.”

“Fantastic.” Tony bounced the baby on his hip. “I don’t know if you’re still hungry, but you can have some of Mommy’s banana if you want.”

“Buh,” Stephy said. She curled her fingers around the paper bag from the sandwich shop.

“No, no, no,” Tony said. “No sandwiches for you for another year at least.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Unless I can stick them in the food processor. Nah, that’d probably just be gross.”

“I’d stay and eat with you,” Steve said. “But it looks like you’re going to be busy for awhile.”

“Thanks, babe.” Tony leaned in for a kiss. “I’ll be up in a little bit.”

Of course, in Tony-speak, a little bit meant several hours so Steve didn’t see him again until a little after five when Thor summoned the team into the den to announce he was taking them all out to dinner.

“That’s cheating,” Clint said. “It’s still your week to cook.”

“I’m afraid my alligator has yet to arrive,” Thor said. “So we will make do with the next best thing. I have been told there is a restaurant nearby that serves an alligator burger.”

“The Bayou Burger,” Tony said with a nod. “Rhodey keeps daring me to try it every time we go to Lou’s. Maybe I’ll get around to trying it eventually. But there are so many other options on the menu. And it’s all good. Trust me.”

Steve loved Lou’s the moment he stepped inside. The place was crammed full of families talking and laughing over their meals while a man played the trombone on a stage in the back. The tables all looked like picnic benches and the whole team was barely able to squeeze in at one table, but it felt homey. And Stephy seemed delighted to be able to sit in a high chair at the table. She kept turning her head this way and that, watching the organized chaos around her.

The waiter started them off with a big plate of cornbread and honey and then swung back a few moments later to see if everybody was ready to order.

Natasha opened her mouth to speak, but Tony beat her to it.

“She’ll have the blackened catfish and coleslaw,” he said. “Bruce here will have the red beans and rice, Thor wants to try the Bayou Burger, but that’s just to start off, so add on one of each of your po’ boys for him, too. Seriously. The shrimp, the crawfish, the beef, the crab. All of them. Steve likes crab cakes and Clint will probably like the chicken and duck gumbo.”

“Ha,” Clint said. “It’s funny because they’re both birds.”

A horrified expression came over Tony’s face and he clamped a hand over his mouth. “Ignore me,” he said. “I was being a dinner dictator for a second. You guys order what you want.”

“I’ll take whatever Tony recommended,” Natasha said.

The rest of the team murmured in agreement.

The waiter made a small note on his paper. “And you?” he said to Tony.

Tony cleared his throat. “Shrimp and grits.”

“Sounds good.” The waiter tucked their menus under his arm. “I’ll be right back with some more cornbread,” he said with a smile.

Tony slumped down in his seat. “For the record, I wasn’t trying to be a jerk,” he said. “Just because I’ve eaten here before doesn’t give me the right to decide everything for everybody.”

“It’s okay,” Steve said with a chuckle. “This is normal.”

“It’s not normal,” Tony hissed. “I’ve never done anything like this. I was just going to order something for me. I wasn’t even thinking about anybody else’s food and the words just came out of my mouth. What’s the matter with me?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Steve said soothingly. “You’re an omega. That means you’re attuned to our needs whether you’re conscious of it or not. You might’ve been just browsing the menu for your own order, but in the back of your mind, you noticed all the options that we’d like. It’s perfectly normal.”

“Seriously,” Clint said. “We have an omega agent and he can tell me with 95% accuracy, what Phil will order for lunch everyday just from saying hi to him every morning.”

“Maybe Agent’s just really predictable,” Tony said.

Clint shook his head. “Phil makes a point of ordering from random places all the time so nobody can predict his whereabouts. But Agent Schroder still knows where Phil’s gonna go everyday. And anyway, it’s not just Phil. He’s got the whole headquarters down. Even me. I used to try not to eat what he said I’d want just to confuse and piss him off. But then I realized, hell yeah, that was exactly what I was craving and why should I punish myself just to irritate the guy? So when he tells me I want a burrito, I order a burrito. No questions asked.”

“Wow,” Tony said.

Clint nodded. “We’re all going to be in big trouble if he decides to go rogue someday.”

The waiter returned to put another batch of cornbread on the table and then a few minutes later, everyone’s meals arrived and the discussion was forgotten as everybody became too busy cramming their faces. Tony hadn’t been wrong. Everything Steve ate was delicious.

“So,” Tony said, as he offered the baby the last spoonful of his grits. “If anybody still has room for dessert, I can make a few recommendations there, too.”

“Heck yes,” Clint said. “I always have room for dessert.”

“I as well,” Thor said. “What better way to round out a delicious meal?”

“How’d the alligator taste, big guy? Just like you imagined?”

“Not quite,” Thor said. “But it was still most delicious. As were the other small sandwiches you ordered for me. I must say that the shrimp was my favorite.”

When the waiter reappeared, Tony ordered bread pudding and a pecan pie for them all to share.

“This has been a great meal,” Steve said as he polished off the last slice of pie. “Thanks, Tony.”

“Yeah,” Clint said. “Thanks, dude. You sure know your stuff when it comes to food.”

Tony ducked his head. “Thor chose the restaurant. You should be thanking him.”

“And you chose the meals,” Bruce said. “You deserve just as much credit for this great experience.”

“To our omega,” Thor said, lifting his empty glass in the air. “Always looking out for our pack even when he should be off-duty and celebrating his recent achievements. To Tony Stark.”

Steve clinked his glass against Thor’s and soon the rest of the team was following suit.

Tony beamed.

This was just what he needed, Steve knew. Love, support, praise, friendship. The perfect ending to Tony’s first day of freedom.


	25. Chapter 25

Everything seemed to get easier after that. The board was still a threat in the background that would probably never go away until all the members were replaced, but the crisis was averted for the moment.

And it wasn’t like the board could really complain when Tony was in the middle of a massive inventing spree. Steve had never seen Tony so inspired. The genius was spending four or five hours down in the lab almost every day and he always resurfaced in high spirits.

But Tony was still avoiding the business side of running his company. Pepper finally had to show up to the Tower, take Stephy out of her play pen and inform Tony he wasn’t going to see the baby until he finished looking over all the paperwork piling up in his office.

With that motivation, Tony managed to get through all his paperwork in a record-breaking two hours. Steve was sure Tony hadn’t read any of the papers he was supposed to sign, but he was pretty sure Tony didn’t usually read them anyway.

Tony swept into the den, interrupting the story Pepper was reading to the baby. “Stephy! Did you miss me, darling? Probably not. Probably too busy having fun with Auntie Pepper. Little traitor.”

But he softened when Stephy reached for him.

“Oh, honey,” Tony said reverently. He held the baby tightly against his chest and gently rocked her. “Mommy missed you so much.”

Pepper smiled as she rose from the couch. “I like this. Finally have some leverage you’ll actually respond to.”

Tony stuck out his tongue. “Come on, Stephy. You’ve spent enough time in evil Auntie Pepper’s company for one day. Don’t want her being a bad influence on you.”

Steve chuckled as Tony wandered out of the room, whispering furtively to the baby about all the horrible abuse Pepper had put him through. “Thanks for coming, Pepper. We’re all glad to have you visit. Even if Tony’s too proud to admit it.”

“Any time. She’s a little angel. And the rest of you are pretty good company, too. Tony’s a lucky man to have met you all.” She brushed off her slacks. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to running Tony’s company for him.”

Steve felt a little sorry for her. She was the only one who had a really set schedule. The team pretty much did what they felt like when they felt like it until they had to deal with a villain attack or a press conference. But they didn’t have anything scheduled in the next few weeks. Except for Clint’s birthday, of course.

It fell on Bruce’s week to cook, but Tony begged to do all the party planning. Steve was pretty sure Tony was going to overdo things again because he knew how quickly a small celebration could turn into a giant party when Tony was excited about it.

But luckily, Tony had managed to invite only a handful of people even though he was had enough food prepared for an entire army. Coulson had been invited, along with a few of Clint’s friends from SHIELD, Pepper, Jane, and Darcy. All people Steve was comfortable with.

Tony spent half of the party making rounds with the baby so everyone could coo over her cuteness and the other half pushing plates of food into people’s hands. Everyone had been impressed with Tony’s cooking, even Coulson, and Tony had basked and preened under their praise. 

“You must spend all your time in the kitchen these days,” Coulson said as he dipped another chip into Tony’s guacamole. “Perfecting your recipes.”

“Nah,” Tony said dismissively. “This is easy stuff.” But he still looked pleased by the praise. “I’m actually spending most of my time down in the lab. I’ve been working on something I want to show you.”

Coulson must have seen something in Tony’s expression, because he brushed off his hands and nodded. “Lead the way.”

Tony beamed and squeezed Steve’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on the grill for me while I’m gone. Thanks, babe.”

Grills, as it turned out. But somehow he managed.

Tony inspected the meat and gave Steve’s work a thumb’s up. “You did great. The tequila-lime chicken will be perfect.” He bumped Steve with his hip. “Now go get yourself a drink. I can handle it from here.”

Of course he could. Tony was already sliding back into his role as cook, making it all look so easy.

Steve got himself a drink and started mingling with the party guests. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, especially Clint.

After devouring half a plate of steak nachos and a case of beer, Clint stumbled into the den and fell back onto the couch. “Alright, it’s time for some fucking presents,” he announced. He reached for the first present in the stack and started clumsily tearing at the paper.

True to his word, Tony really had gotten Clint a whole collection of Kevin Bacon movies. But he had also made him a new batch of arrows, so Clint didn’t seem to mind the joke. Or maybe he was just too drunk to get it.

“Sweet arrows, man,” Clint said. He gestured to the vase on the end table. “Who wants to watch me shoot this fucking pineapple off the table?”

“No exploding arrows indoors,” Tony said firmly. He eased the arrows out of Clint’s hands and shoved Bruce’s present into his lap.

They were lucky Clint was so easily distracted. And they were even luckier when Clint passed out after another beer.

“I would have thought Barton could hold his liquor after all these years,” Coulson said as he helped Steve carry Clint up to his room. 

“So, he was always like this?”

Coulson nodded. “Natasha once told me her grandmother could outdrink him.”

It was probably bad form to be sitting in Clint’s bedroom, listening to all of Coulson’s stories about Clint’s wild, younger days while the man was passed out. But, well, Steve wasn’t always the nice guy everyone thought he was.

When they made it back downstairs, most of the SHIELD agents were just as drunk as Clint was. Agent Schroder was actually sprawled out across the kitchen table, arguing with Tony about the best restaurants in the city. And two of the agents were trying to stab each other with a pair of chopsticks. Coulson just shook his head and unarmed the two with some complicated move that left them both sitting in their chairs looking confused.

“It’s time for us to go,” Coulson said. “Thor, if you would?”

“Certainly,” Thor said. He threw one of the agents over each shoulder and carried them out to the car.

Coulson began rounding up the rest of the agents because he was apparently the designated driver for all of them.

“It’s probably time for us to go, too,” Jane said. “Tell Clint we enjoyed the party.”

“But it’s only midnight,” Darcy protested. “The party’s just getting started.” She lifted her glass above her head and started swaying to the music.

“Which means we’ve been here for five hours already,” Jane said firmly. “Time to go home.”

Midnight already? Wow, Steve must have talked with Coulson for a lot longer than he had thought. But, to be fair, Clint had a long history of crazy adventures so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Steve helped Tony with the clean-up and then dragged him off to bed. Although Tony would never admit it, he knew how exhausted the genius was keeping everyone happy and entertained.

Tony was up early with Steve the next morning for their usual walk and instead of tech talk, all Tony wanted to do was start planning Steve’s birthday. “Coming up in less than a month,” he said. “We should start working on it now. Because I know everyone’s going to want to come. Clint’s kind of an acquired taste, but nobody will want to miss out on your party.”

Steve sighed. “I don’t want a big party, Tony. Just you and the rest of the guys. No planning needed.”

“But we have to do something special,” Tony protested, looking at Steve like he had grown an extra head.

Steve squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “It will be special. You can cook us all something nice and we’ll have cake and ice cream, maybe watch a movie together.”

“But that’s normal stuff,” Tony complained. “It’s your birthday. There should be ribbons and sparklers and fireworks.”

“Oh, there’ll be fireworks alright,” Steve said. He dragged his gaze over Tony’s body.

Tony giggled. “Not in front of the baby,” he said. He dropped his voice down to a whisper. “But if that’s the way you want to celebrate your big day, I am not going to say no. Not at all.”

Steve draped an arm over Tony’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Whatever happens, my birthday will still be special because you’ll be there.”

Back at the Tower, Tony started whipping up a batch of pancakes, pausing every so often to feed Stephy a spoonful of mango applesauce.

Clint wandered in right when they were done eating, looking pale and haggard. “Best birthday ever,” he said, offering Tony a thumb’s up and an attempt at a smile, although he looked more nauseous than happy.

Tony patted Clint’s shoulder and slid a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol across the counter. “I’ll make you something gross and greasy. Always works for me when I feel as shitty as you do.”

“No one has ever felt as shitty as I do,” Clint said. But he sank into a chair and downed the water.

Tony scooped the baby out of her high chair. “Stephy and I are going to spend a little time down in the lab. Try not to throw up on anything important.”

Steve left Tony alone for a couple hours and concentrated on finishing up his paintings for Tony’s Fourth of July fundraiser. They had been half-done for weeks, just waiting for him to find the inspiration to continue. But now he found the motivation to finish. A quiet neighborhood at night, two lovers sitting on a rooftop watching the stars. A family having a picnic in a bright green meadow while curious rabbits watch from a distance. Small children lined up to go down a bright yellow slide. They weren’t exactly patriotic images, but they represented all the good things about the country. And perhaps somebody else at the auction would be thinking the way Steve did, that this was what the army was fighting to protect.

It was just about lunch time when he finished, so he washed up and made himself a club sandwich and pastrami on rye for Tony.

He didn’t see Tony at first. There was a tangle of wires across all of Tony’s work surfaces and microchips everywhere. But then he caught a glimpse of Tony’s sneakers sticking out behind one of the benches. It turned out Tony was actually on the floor, working with a tangled mass of wires the size of a tumbleweed and a volt meter.

Steve crouched down beside him and raised an eyebrow at the scope of the project. “You going to be at this for awhile?”

“Oh, no. Just fixing a wiring issue on the suit.” Tony pushed one batch of wires to the side and began untangling a second mass.

“Again?”

“What?” Tony asked distractedly.

“Didn’t you fix that wiring issue a couple weeks ago?”

Tony paused. “Oh,” he said. “It’s, uh, a different wiring issue.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “What are you really working on?”

“Nothing,” Tony said quickly.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m a great liar. How else do you think I’ve managed to keep those jerks on the board happy?”

Steve narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t let Clint talk you into making something to electrocute the board, did you?”

Tony barked out a laugh. “No, nothing like that.”

Steve cupped Tony’s face in his hand and stroked a thumb over his cheek. “Promise me that you’re using your powers for good. I’d hate to see you waste that great brain of yours on revenge.”

“It’s a good thing,” Tony promised. “Something I should have thought about a long time ago. But I was always too focused on other things. Weapons when I should have been working on armor.” He shook his head sadly.

“Hey,” Steve said. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. You never would have come up with the idea if you hadn’t gone through what you did in Afghanistan.” He tapped Tony’s chest. “How would you have been able to make your reactor the power source without, you know, getting the reactor? I hate that you had to go through all that, but sometimes we come out of bad situations better than we went in.”

Tony’s mouth curled into a smile. “Don’t I know it.”

“Now, do you want to tell me what you’re really working on?”

“Can’t. Top secret. For now, anyway. But you’ll probably see it in action soon enough.”

Steve sighed. “Just tell me you didn’t make any dangerous upgrades to your suit. Like putting in flaming jet-skis or something.”

Tony’s brightened. “Now that’s an idea.”

“Tony, no.”

“Too late.” Tony scrambled up from the floor and reached for one of his computer. “Jarvis, make a note for later. I can’t believe I never thought of something so awesome.”

Steve sighed. “Tony.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Too dangerous.” Tony waved his volt meter dismissively. “Hey, take the baby up for lunch, would you? Mommy’s going to get his science on.”

“Tony,” Steve said exasperatedly. 

“For science!” Tony said. He stuffed half his sandwich into his mouth and then scurried off into a corner of the lab.

Steve shook his head and scooped the baby out of her playpen. “Mommy’s a little crazy,” he said. “Best to leave him in peace when he’s like this.”

Stephy burbled contentedly and stuffed her fist into her mouth.

“Right,” Steve said. “Lunch.”

Stephy ate most of the mashed bananas Steve gave her for lunch. Or more truthfully, the bowl of mashed bananas was empty and both Steve and Stephy were smeared with goop. Steve probably should have known better than to leave the bowl close enough for Stephy to stick her hands in it.

“You are a mess,” Steve said. “And not even a hot mess like your mother. Just a mess.” He pressed a kiss to her slimy cheek. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.”

“Bah,” Stephy said, reaching up to smear more banana into his hair.

Steve grimaced. How did this kind of thing never happen when Tony was feeding her?

Tony remained down in the lab for the rest of the afternoon and he didn’t come up for dinner, either. And when Steve went down to check up on him, the lab doors remained firmly shut.

“I’m sorry, Captain Rogers,” Jarvis said. “It is not advisable for you to enter the lab at this time.”

Steve cursed under his breath. Why oh why had he put the idea for something so ridiculously, stupidly dangerous in Tony’s head?

“Alright,” he said finally. “Tell him there’s leftovers in the fridge.”

Steve had had enough when Tony hadn’t resurfaced by midnight. “Jarvis, can you tell Tony those flaming jet skis can really wait until morning?” They could probably wait forever as far as Steve concerned.

“That is not Sir’s current project,” Jarvis responded immediately.

That was good to hear. “Well, then, tell him to finish up whatever he’s working on and come to bed.”

“I’m afraid not, Captain Rogers. Sir insists he has important work to do and it cannot wait.”

Steve crawled into bed, knowing it would be next to impossible to get any sleep with Tony holed up in the lab. He couldn’t help but worry about him. Tony hadn’t pulled an all-nighter in months. Maybe he had just gotten caught up in something fun and exciting, but Steve hadn’t liked the way Tony was lying to him and being secretive. Tony was usually so excited to share his ideas that it was hard to stop him from talking about whatever he was working on. 

When he rolled out of bed the next morning, he had maybe gotten two hours of sleep, and they had mostly been nightmares. He camped out in front of Tony’s lab and resolved that he wasn't going to leave until Tony came out.

He didn’t have long to wait because Tony emerged at the hour they normally took the baby out, looking more drained and haggard than Clint had. And what was worse was the defeated set to his face, the dull look in his eyes. Tony had almost tripped over him, staggering out of the lab without really seeing anything.

Steve got up and steadied Tony against his chest. “Hey, what happened in there? Are you okay?”

Tony blinked a few times, his vision focusing. “Oh. Steve. Hey, babe. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

Steve sucked in a breath at the scorch marks across Tony’s neck. “Oh, honey. You’re not trying to burn off your gland, are you?”

Removal of the omega gland was said to be one of the most painful experiences a person could go through, even more painful than having one’s dick sliced off. Still, there had been omegas who had done it back in Steve’s day. Most of them had been mentally ill, convinced they were clawing a tumor off their necks or some sort of alien device the government was using to spy on them. But there were also omegas who had been suffering horrible abuse and saw no other way out.

Tony blinked and put a hand up to his neck. “Oh,” he said. “Didn’t realize the explosion had been that bad.”

“Explosion?” Steve sputtered. Why hadn’t Jarvis notified him?

“Minor explosion,” Tony said confidently and then frowned, rubbing at his neck again. “Maybe.”

Steve squeezed Tony into a hug. “Honey, don’t do this to me, please.”

“I’m fine,” Tony repeated. He guided Steve’s hand to his gland. “See?” he said, his voice going a little higher, a little nervous around the edges. “Still there.”

Steve stroked his thumb over the gland. Tony was trembling beneath him and-ow. He pulled his hand back and frowned at it. Static shock? How had that happened?

Tony clutched at the front of Steve’s shirt and made a tiny whimpering sound.

Steve stroked his back soothingly. “You did so good. So good. I’ll get you some ice cream. Or maybe some leftover pancakes. How does that sound?”

“Fantastic,” Tony said, his smile still a little shaky.

“I’ll even make some eggs and bacon if you promise me not to cause any more explosions today.”

“No promises,” Tony murmured.

“Babe. No project is worth you almost getting killed for.”

“It is,” Tony said faintly. “Damn is it ever.”

“At least tell me what you’re doing so I don’t have to worry about you.”

“I can’t.” Tony avoided his eyes. “But you’ll see soon enough.”


	26. Chapter 26

If Steve didn’t know any better, he might have thought Tony had just gotten really, really caught up in his work. After all, the man had a company to make products for, consultant work for SHIELD, and both made and maintained all of the Avengers’ gear. So it would be understandable that he was too busy to spend much time with him. But Steve did know better.

Tony was avoiding him.

Sure, they were still sleeping in the same bed and still taking the baby for her walk every morning. But Tony wasn’t as chatty as usual and he was always quick to escape down to the lab after their walks. He stayed down in the lab for most of the day after that and only occasionally came up to share a meal with the rest of them. And when they went to bed at night, Tony turned in quickly, claiming he was too tired for any talking. 

And that was definitely bullshit. Tony was never too tired to talk.

But what could he do? Tony didn’t want to talk to him and when he didn’t want to do something, he’d do everything in his power to avoid it. Steve supposed if he showed that he was willing to wait out this spell, however long it lasted, Tony would give up eventually, but he didn’t like to wait. If Tony was hurting, he wanted to help.

A week after Tony started giving him the silent treatment, Steve’s afternoon reading was interrupted by Tony shouting his name.

Steve looked up with a start. Tony’s face was smudged with grease and his hair was sticking straight up like he had been electrocuted. But he was grinning ear to ear as he climbed into Steve’s lap.

“I did it, Steve,” he said triumphantly. “I finally finished.”

Steve cupped his hands around Tony’s face. “Another world-changing invention?”

“God, I hope so. It’s already changed my world.”

Steve stroked his thumb over one of the grease smears on Tony’s cheek. “I missed you, you know.”

Tony leaned into the touch. “So did I.” 

Steve smiled. “So how about we do a little catching up?”

“Not yet. I need you to do something for me first.” Tony tipped his head to the side, exposing his neck.

Right. He hadn’t touched Tony’s gland in a few days.

Steve slid his hand down to Tony’s neck and gently rubbed his thumb over the omega’s gland. “Ow!” he said, jerking his hand back as he was hit with what felt like the strongest static shock of his life.

“Steve?” Tony’s eyes were wide with terror.

“Easy, easy,” Steve said soothingly. “Just a little static electricity.” He was really curious about what Tony had been up to now. Electrifying himself, somehow? It would explain Tony’s crazy hair and the residual static.

The fear in Tony’s eyes faded and he started to giggle. “Oh my god, Steve, your hair’s standing straight up.”

“So is yours,” Steve retorted.

Tony reached up to smooth Steve’s hair down with his hands, which only seemed to make it worse. “Oh well,” he said with a shrug. “It’ll go away eventually.”

“After a shower,” Steve suggested, giving Tony a pointed look.

“In a little bit,” Tony said. “I have something to tell you first.” He licked his lips and leaned forward. “The board’s been giving me all kinds of hell for raising money specifically for support groups for omega soldiers. It’s un-American to only help some of our veterans or some bullshit.”

“It’s your charity,” Steve said. “You should be able to fund whatever groups you want.”

“Well, they’re not about to let facts get in the way of a juicy scandal. Tony Stark, so traumatized by his sexual assault that he won’t do a damn thing for our nation’s alphas. Those noble, heroic alphas who fought for our freedom.” Tony shook his head. “I’ll let them have their way this time, donate to some general veterans’ organizations.”

“Tony, you can’t-”

Tony’s eyes sparkled. “And in the meantime, I’m organizing a separate charity fundraiser the week before that will contribute to as many omega support groups as I can. And they can’t do a thing to stop me because it’s not the official Fourth of July gala. It’s just my own, heartfelt desire to see these groups funded. And Pepper will make sure the press knows how cold-hearted the board is if they dare try to cancel my fundraiser.”

Steve kissed Tony’s cheek. “I’m so proud of you, babe. I’ll whip up a couple extra paintings.”

“You’re the best,” Tony said. “I love you.” He kissed Steve passionately and then left, towards the shower probably.

Steve leaned back against the couch with a sigh of relief. So this was the problem that had been plaguing Tony all week. Now that it was all settled, there was nothing more to worry about. And whatever Tony had been inventing, he would probably unveil it at his fundraiser, just to spite the board further. Steve wasn’t sure why Tony had been so keen to avoid him while he was planning this all out. He would have been nothing but supportive the entire way. But maybe it was for the best. Every time he heard about another way the board was trying to make Tony’s life difficult, he wanted to wring their necks.

Tony poked his head back into the den. “Hey, Steve, weren’t you talking about a shower?”

Steve swallowed. “I thought you wanted to shower on your own.”

Tony huffed. “Why would I want to shower on my own when I can have eye candy?”

“Are you sure?” Tony usually avoided sexual intimacy for a couple hours after his gland was touched. Sometimes even making out made him jumpy. But here he was proposing getting naked together. He ought to have felt a little nervous making himself so vulnerable, but he looked at Steve with nothing but impatience.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Tony said firmly. “If you won’t do it for me, do it for all the water we’ll be saving.”

Steve smiled. “I’ll always do it for you.” If Tony felt comfortable with him, he would be a fool to turn down the offer.

Tony took his hand and led him upstairs and into the bathroom. He stripped quickly and efficiently and then ducked under the shower’s spray. Steve watched him for a moment and then stepped in beside him. Tony was already shampooing his hair and Steve followed suit. For a moment, it really did seem like Tony really did want him to join him simply to save water. But then Tony picked up a bar of soap and ran it carefully over Steve’s chest.

“Well, this is nice,” Steve said. “Haven’t had anyone bathe me since I was a kid.”

“I should be looking after you better,” Tony said regretfully. “Cleaning your wounds after battle. You’re our alpha, the leader of our pack and the love of my life. I should be-”

“Hey,” Steve said. “There is no right or wrong way to be an omega. We’ve discussed this.”

“There is a wrong way,” Tony said. “When you ignore your instincts. God, Steve, you make me want to be so domestic. I want to cook breakfast for you every morning, sit down for dinners with our pack, spend all afternoon with you and the baby. But instead, I spend all time down in the lab.”

“You did what you had to do,” Steve said firmly. “I would never ask you to give up your work for me. It’s what you love.”

“But I love you.”

“I love you, too. And you have cooked breakfast for me. You have sat down for dinner with our pack. You’ve cooked most of those dinners. And you have spent plenty of time with the baby. I’ve seen you play with her, nap with her, read to her, and I bet you’ve even sung a lullaby or two. So don’t worry about it. You can’t be all things for all people at all times. There will be times when you take care of our pack and our family and times when you have to take care of the rest of the world. We’re superheroes. It’s what we do.”

Tony’s lip curled. “And if I go down to the lab for purely selfish reasons?”

“You need to do things for yourself, too. My instincts tell me I need to look after you and the baby and make sure you’re happy. And if you keep beating yourself up about what you have and haven’t done, I’m not doing my job properly.”

Tony leaned in to kiss him, the soap slipping out of his fingers as he curled his hands over Steve’s shoulders.

“You dropped the soap,” Steve said faintly.

“Contrary to popular belief, shower sex isn’t all that great,” Tony said with a rueful smile. “You get water in your eyes, half of your body is too cold and the other half is too hot, it’s way too slippery to get a good angle and good friction-”

“Yeah, I get the idea,” Steve said. “I wasn’t planning on shower sex anyway.” He picked up the soap and started scrubbing Tony’s back.

Tony’s eyes fluttered shut. “You don’t have to do this. I can wash myself.”

“I want to do it,” Steve said. He directed Tony under the water’s spray. “I like taking care of you, remember?”

Tony offered no further protest, letting Steve finish washing him off and lead him out of the shower.

Steve toweled Tony off and then pressed him down against the bed. He looked so adorable with his wet hair sticking to his face and Steve couldn’t help kissing him.

Tony hummed happily. “I really missed you, Steve. Missed this.”

“You did what you had to do,” Steve reminded him. “And this is your reward for all your hard work.”

Just as Steve suspected, Tony wasn’t quite over having his gland touched, so he didn’t initiate sex like he might in any other circumstance. He just smiled at Steve and leaned up for another kiss. “Thanks, sweetheart. You will come to my fundraiser, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Steve said. “I’m bringing the art.”

And because this was Tony’s personal fundraiser, Steve didn’t have to get anything cleared through the board. He dutifully turned in all his paintings for the official Fourth of July fundraiser and then started whipping up another batch for Tony’s gala.

Tony was still spending a lot of time down in the lab, but he also wandered in and out of Steve’s art studio, sometimes with the baby on his hip, sometimes arguing on the phone with Pepper. Steve knew he should feel a little more sympathy for Pepper when she informed Tony for what sounded like the fifth time that Fury wanted no part in this and he needed to find someone else to make the opening speech because they were running out of time, but it was good to hear that some things never changed.

The morning of the fundraiser, Tony was even more of a nervous wreck than usual.

“I’ve never done this myself,” Tony confessed. “I always had to do as Pepper said to smooth over some scandal or as the board said to promote SI’s interests. I have no clue what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“The same thing you always do,” Steve said soothingly. “Smile pretty, talk to people, make a short speech on stage to thank everyone for coming, and then just enjoy the party.”

Tony wrinkled his nose. “But I usually have an angle. Something I’m supposed to be selling.”

“You’re selling everyone on the idea that you’re an awesome omega. Easy stuff. But the rest of us will be there so don’t panic. Nobody’s leaving you to do it all on your own.”

The worried look began to fade from Tony’s eyes when Natasha reminded him everyone needed fancy clothes to wear. And then Tony was a flurry of motion, setting out suits and accessories for each of them. And this time Clint didn’t complain, just cheerfully eased into his suit. Steve was intensely grateful.

Tony rambled the whole way to the venue, reminding the team about all the different omega charities the fundraiser was supporting, all the famous people he knew were coming that they should be looking out for. Steve listened patiently, knowing there was no way he could memorize all of the information Tony was dumping on them, but he’d do whatever it took to humor the omega while he was so clearly freaked out.

The limo pulled up to the curb of the event space. Already there were celebrities walking up the red carpet and a swarm of paparazzi taking photographs of each arrival. 

Natasha reached over and squeezed Tony’s shoulder, carefully avoiding his gland. “Deep breaths,” she said. “I can almost smell the distress on you.”

Tony straightened his tie and flashed her a weak smile. “Got it.”

The rest of the team got out first, posing for a few pictures and talking to reporters before Steve followed at Tony’s side.

Tony got them into the venue as quickly as possible, making it look like he wasn’t in a hurry to get past the reporters while he breezed by most of them with just a wave.

Inside, Tony made a beeline for the bar and quickly tossed back a vodka and cranberry. “Got to get the drinking over with first,” he said, the smile not quite reaching his eyes.

“So the alcohol will be out of your system by the time you go home,” Steve said gently. “So you can nurse the baby and put her down to sleep.”

A little of the nervousness went out of Tony’s eyes. “That’s right,” he said.

Steve kissed Tony’s cheek. “You’re a fantastic mother,” he said. “An amazing omega.”

Tony beamed at him. “Well, I try.” His grip on Steve’s hand loosened just a little. “Wanna help me spread the word of my awesomeness?”

“Of course,” Steve said. “Should I bring along the painting of you looking awesome?”

Tony stopped. “You,” he spluttered. “You painted me?”

Steve nodded, fighting the grin at Tony’s obvious surprise.

“As in, one of the paintings you made for tonight?”

“Yep.” Steve lost the battle, grin breaking out across his face.

“Oooh, this I’ve got to see.” Tony was practically vibrating with enthusiasm now. 

“Happy’s supposed to be bringing them in from the car now.”

“Great, great,” Tony said distractedly, peering into the crowd of people. “I’ll be right back. Have to make sure the thing got done.” He waved a hand vaguely and headed off through the crowd. 

Steve watched him march forward determinedly until he almost crashed into Coulson. Steve was a little surprised to see the agent. It didn’t seem to be his kind of crowd. But he walked up to Tony, leaned in to whisper something to him and then left after shaking his hand.

Tony stared down at his outstretched hand as if he couldn’t quite believe what had happened. Steve was willing to bet that Coulson had just offered to donate to one of the charities Tony was supporting, which was very generous of him. Or maybe he had just told Tony he was proud of him. Either option was likely to send Tony into this kind of shock.

Steve chuckled and tried to push through the crowd to get to Tony. But before he could make it, Natasha got there first. She started to pull him into a hug and then took a step back. “Tony, there’s wine or something on your shirt.”

Tony looked down. “Fuck,” he said. “You tell me not to wear red and then this happens.”

Natasha sighed. “I know how to get the stain out. Follow me.” She grabbed his hand and started tugging him towards the bathroom.

“Oooh,” Tony said. “I’m about to witness the great mystery that is the ladies’ room. I can’t wait.” He winked at Steve as Natasha yanked him past.

Steve lingered close to the restrooms, waiting until Natasha and Tony reemerged. “Babe,” Tony cooed, practically throwing himself into Steve’s arms. “Save me from that horrible woman. She tried to rip me out of my clothes. I barely held onto my virtue.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You’re not my type, Tony.”

Tony put a hand to his chest and made a wounded expression. “I’m everybody’s type.”

Clint stepped up behind Natasha. “Hey, Stark,” he said. “You’ve already got Steve. Give the rest of us a chance, okay?” He held out a mini quiche to Natasha.

She accepted the food and stuck her tongue out at Tony. “My type brings me food.”

Tony huffed as the two spies slipped seamlessly into the dancing in the middle of the ballroom, but then he turned to Steve with bright eyes. “Let’s go see your paintings. Clint can’t top that.”

Happy had propped up his paintings on stands right inside lobby so everyone would see his art as they were walking in. At the moment, five well-dressed ladies were standing around the display, murmuring to each other about the masterful use of color.

It still seemed surreal to have other people admiring his artwork. His mother had always praised his artistic ability, but well, she was his mother.

“Hey,” Tony said jubilantly. “It’s me.” He struck a pose next to the painting Steve had done of Tony at work in the lab, his eyes alight with an idea as he clutched a screwdriver in one hand.

The women turned to look, cooing over the stunning likeness. Tony obligingly posed for a few pictures of him standing next to his portrait.

“What do you call this magnificent work?” the oldest woman asked.

Steve smiled. “Eureka.”

“She didn’t ask what you said when you saw me,” Tony said teasingly. “She asked what you called the painting.”

The women giggled to themselves.

“Marvelous,” said the old woman. “I should discuss this with my mate. Harold loves having a painting hanging in the den. We’ll have to find a suitable frame, of course. Something that will do it justice.”

Tony smiled politely as she tottered off, still murmuring to herself about the frame. Once she was out of earshot, he waggled an eyebrow. “Looks like she’s your age, tiger. Maybe she still has a crush on you after all these years.”

Steve rolled his eyes.

Natasha swept in, Clint nowhere in sight. “There you are, Tony,” she said. “Everyone's been asking about you.”

“Sorry, babe. Duty calls.” Tony pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek. “Try not to miss me too much.”

Steve smiled. “No promises.”

Tony tossed him a grin over his shoulder. “I know it's impossible not to miss me, but you'll at least try, won't you, darling?”

“Yes, dear,” Steve chuckled.

He watched for a few minutes as Tony worked the room, mingling with the bigger groups, sliding his way into smaller conversations, and sometimes just waving a greeting to someone across the room. He had known Tony was good at the schmoozing and social maneuvering. After all, the Stark Foundation was a big charity and it wouldn't be a big charity if the CEO wasn't good at charming people into donating to its causes. But Tony seemed to be genuinely at home navigating through the crowds, almost as if he was enjoying the work. Maybe it was because Tony had finally found a cause that he actually believed in.

Natasha nudged Steve with her hip. “Tony looks good tonight, doesn't he?”

“He looks good every night. But, let me guess, you picked out his suit, didn't you?”

“Maybe,” Natasha said with a coy smile. “And I might've added a few special touches to his styling.”

“Well, he does look nice,” Steve said. The shimmery gold tie had been a nice touch. “And it's probably a relief to have somebody else worrying about his wardrobe so he can concentrate on the rest of the preparations.”

“It was the least I could do for him,” she said. “He might be your boyfriend, but he’s our omega too. We all want to look after him.”

Steve smiled, warmed by the thought. Their pack was coming together so well.

He was briefly distracted by another middle-aged woman inquiring about his art and when he looked up again, he had lost sight of Tony.

“He’ll be fine,” Natasha said. “He’s actually enjoying himself for once.”

Steve nodded. Most of the people at the party were alphas and betas who felt moved by the cause or simply wanted to enjoy a party, no matter the reason. But he was sure many of the omega support charities had sent omegas to represent their cause. And it was good for Tony to socialize with other omegas. 

Natasha stroked his arm. “Get something to eat while you’re waiting. The orange tart is to die for.”

Steve’s stomach growled at the thought. But then he thought of the blood orange sorbet Tony had made and he was sure the tart was only going to be a disappointment compared to Tony’s cooking.

Someone suddenly started screaming and Steve’s head whipped around as more panicked, shocked cries rang out.

“Gotta go,” Natasha said. She darted off in the direction of the screams.

Steve pushed his way through the crowd to find Natasha pinning a burly man down on the ground while event security hovered nearby, keeping everyone else back.

The man raised his head a little to glare venomously at Tony. “You'll pay for this, Stark,” he growled.

“Stay down,” Natasha snarled, pressing a heel harder into the man's back.

Tony spat on the ground beside the man's head. “You're the one who's going to pay, you sick son of a bitch.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Steve demanded.

“Oh, Mr. Peterson was going to 'show me a good time' and he was shocked when I declined.” Tony reached for his neck and peeled off a skin-colored patch with wires trailing from it. “It acts pretty much like a Taser. Ingenious, isn't it?”

“Fuck you,” Mr. Peterson growled. “Attacking an innocent man with that stupid invention.”

“You're not an innocent man. You tried to touch my gland. And no alpha should ever touch an omega's gland during normal social interactions. And before you start off on some bullshit story about trying to comfort me for some reason, I've got a nice little recording of you insisting that you can give it to me so much better than Steve can.” Tony popped a little microchip out of the mess of wires and dropped it into Steve's hand. “Why would anyone ever suspect that my neck was listening in on them?” he said with a wink.

“Illegal recording,” the man spat. “It will never hold up in court.”

“Luckily, New York is a one-party consent state,” Tony said cheerfully. “And even if it wasn't, those papers you signed at the door have your acknowledgment that this benefit is covered by the media and you might be photographed, videotaped, or recorded at any moment. Take him away, gentlemen.”

The security officers hauled the man to his feet, still swearing and vowing revenge against Tony. A few reporters trailed after him, trying to get some response out of him besides the incoherent rage. But now that he was under arrest and being hauled away, the rest of the crowd began to disperse, apparently having lost interest now that there was no big scene to watch.

Steve turned the tiny bug over in his hands. “This is SHIELD stuff,” he said. “Did you really swipe something from Fury?”

“Nah. I told Coulson what I was planning and he let me borrow it for a little while. I could totally make one of my own bugs if I wanted to, better ones. But, uh, I was kind of running out of time.”

“Coulson set this up?” Steve frowned. “He didn't tell me anything.”

“Natasha told him not to tell you.”

“Natasha knew about this?”

“Of course she did. Who else do you think helped make the thing look believable? I don't have those kinds of makeup skills.” Tony patted Steve's cheek. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you, darling, but you would have hovered around me all night and well, this would never have worked with you breathing down my neck the entire time.”

“Someone needed to,” Steve said hotly. “I can't believe that you would put yourself out there like that with untested technology and just hope-”

“Not untested,” Tony said. “Remember those electric shocks? I knew it worked. Just had to turn up the voltage a little.”

“I can't believe you,” Steve said. “It barely worked on me and somehow you counted that as a successful test? Good enough to try it out with a dangerous alpha like this Peterson guy? Thank god it worked, but what if it hadn't? Think, Tony, think!” He put a hand on Tony's shoulder to shake some sense into him, but the omega trembled beneath his touch. Startled, he pulled his hand back. “Tony, you're shaking.”

“I was scared, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” Tony hunched his shoulders. “Yes, I put myself in harm's way and yes, there was a chance something could have gone wrong. But I knew Nat was somewhere in the crowd looking out for me. And the rest of you would have shown up if something really started going south.”

“Tony,” Steve protested.

“I know, I know. You still think it was an unnecessary risk. But, Steve, I had to do it. You're not always going to be with me at every charity gala, awards show, and board meeting I need to attend. And what happens if you're not there? I'm sick of being afraid of every alpha I meet. I need to know that I can protect myself.”

Steve cupped Tony's face in his hands. “Next time you decide to do something like this, please talk to me. I worry about you.”

Tony nodded and rested his head against Steve’s chest. “I will. This is all the excitement I can handle.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently Tony-ing my way through what could possibly be pneumonia and I'm sick as hell right now, so I apologize in advance for any typos/mistakes I missed. Feel free to point them out so I can fix them.

Steve had little time with Tony the rest of the evening. Everyone wanted a chance to chat with Tony, although most of them seemed only interested in all the juicy details about his altercation with Mr. Peterson. Steve watched Tony’s smile get more and more forced as the night went on. It had to be frustrating that people were more interested in gossip than in omega’s rights.  
Still, the fundraiser seemed to be a success. By the end of the night, three million had been raised in donations and Steve’s paintings had been sold for another million. Steve was surprised people were willing to pay so much for his art, but then again, he was kind of a celebrity and people these days seemed obsessed with celebrity merchandise. At least it was for a good cause.

By the time they made it home, Tony looked worn out and disappointed, so Steve got him a bowl of ice cream and carried him up to bed.

“Thanks, babe,” Tony said with a sad smile. “I was hoping to have the energy to celebrate the wild success of my first fundraiser, but people are awful.”

“I’m sorry that asshole ruined your fundraiser,” Steve murmured, pressing a kiss against Tony’s cheek.

“I should have known it would happen,” Tony said with a sigh. “I mean, I did know something was bound to happen, which is why I wore the patch. But I really should have expected all the fallout. You do something awesome and suddenly it’s all anybody can talk about.”

“Still,” Steve said. “You raised a lot of money.”

“It should have been more,” Tony said. “The board sets a goal of five million for each official fundraiser. Anything less than that and the fundraiser is considered a failure.”

“I don’t give a damn what the board thinks,” Steve said. “This is the first time you’ve done this on your own and I’d say you did a pretty good job. And I doubt any of the charities will turn up their noses if they get a million. You didn’t have to raise them any money, but you did. And I’m sure they’ll be grateful.”

“You’re right,” Tony said. “Most of them aren’t getting much funding and every bit helps. I talked to Micah Trawley, his organization’s called The Omega Project. They work on educating beta and alpha parents who are concerned an omega child won’t amount to anything. An organization I wish had been around when I was little. But anyway, they’re not getting a lot of funding. People prefer to wallow in their ignorance I guess. The money I raised tonight might be their operating budget for the whole year. I wanted it to be more. It should have been more.”

Steve stroked Tony’s cheek. “You can hold another fundraiser later this year. After all the hubbub has died down. In the meantime, I think we should go somewhere fun to take your mind off things. Just you, me, and the baby. I bet she’d love the beach.”

Tony frowned. “I don’t want her getting sunburned.”

“We’ll go first thing in the morning,” Steve assured him. “Just think, this might be her first time seeing the ocean.”

Steve had no idea if the baby had ever been to a beach, but he knew how much Tony loved introducing her to new things. He could almost see Tony turning the idea over in his mind.  
“Okay,” Tony said finally. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning. And we’ll take an umbrella for shade. And we need to pack sunscreen, a couple beach towels, a cooler with sandwiches and-”

Steve pressed a finger over Tony’s lips. “We’ll get everything ready in the morning. Right now, you need to get some sleep.”

“If you insist,” Tony said. But he burrowed under the covers without further protest.

When Steve woke up the next morning, Tony was already down in the kitchen, balancing the baby on his hip as he layered sandwiches, fruit, and bottled water in the cooler.

Steve smiled. “Want some help?”

“Yeah, help me get this sun hat on her head.” Tony indicated a floppy white hat on the counter that matched the blue and white striped dress the baby was wearing.

“Sure.” Steve settled the hat on top of the baby’s head.

“Bah,” she said, tugging the hat off her head and dropping it down onto the floor.

Tony made a stern face at the baby. “You’re going to wear a sun hat, young lady. We don’t want you getting burned.” He placed the hat back on her head.

She grabbed it again and tossed it to the floor with a delighted giggle.

Tony shook his head. “You’re going to be a handful when you get older.”

Steve chuckled. “She’s a handful now.”

“Nah, this is the easy part. Just wait until she starts running around, getting into everything and telling you no when you want her to do something.”

“And it’ll all be worth it.” Steve kissed Tony’s cheek. “Our daughter’s going to grow up to be an amazing woman. I just know it.”

Tony beamed and grabbed another armful of water bottles. “As long as we raise her right.” 

“We’re off to a good start, I think.” Steve peered into the bag Tony had prepared for the beach. There was a book on marine life tucked in beside the towels. He was sure Tony was going to read the baby facts about every creature they encountered.

Distantly, a phone chimed.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Is that yours?”

“I think so.” Tony frowned at the water bottles in his hands. “Jarvis, could you get that for me?”

“Miss Potts is on the line.”

Tony groaned. “Tell her I’m busy.”

“She’s most insistent, Sir.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Alright, Jarvis. Put her on speaker.”

“Tony,” Pepper said. “Thank god I got ahold of you.”

“Hey, Pepper,” Tony said. “Now’s really not a good time. Steve and I were just about to-”

“I don’t care what your plans are. We need you here in R & D, getting that gland patch of yours ready for production.”

“Pepper, this isn’t a new product. This was just for me.”

“I’m sure it was,” Pepper said. “But they played footage of your confrontation last night on the news. And omegas everywhere are excited about the idea. We’ve already had a thousand people call in asking when they could buy one. You need to bring that thing in so the boys in the lab can have a look.”

Tony groaned. “Can’t this wait until-”

“This is an untapped market, Tony. You’re the only one out there with this tech right now. If Stark Industries gets on this immediately, it’s a huge advantage for the company. But if we wait too long, someone else will start making these things and we’ll lose out. So get in here and help us out.” She hung up before Tony could say anything else.

Tony sighed and shot Steve a long-suffering look. “Looks like I’m not going anywhere today. But you and Stephy can still go.”

“We’ll go tomorrow,” Steve said firmly. “This trip is as much for you as it is for her.”

Tony adjusted the baby on his hip and started transferring the sandwiches into the fridge. “So much for my nice, relaxing day at the beach.”

“I know,” Steve said. “I know you were looking forward to it. But think of it this way, you’re making a difference for your fellow omegas. The gland patch will protect them from predatory alphas. And that peace of mind is probably worth more than any money you might have raised.”

“I just wish Pepper wouldn’t do this right now,” Tony said with a sigh. “I fend off an attacker with my snazzy tech and suddenly Stark Industries is selling it. People are going to think it was all a publicity stunt.”

“There are people out there who are determined to think badly of you no matter what happens. I wouldn’t worry about them. Just focus on all the omegas you’re going to help.”

“Alright,” Tony huffed. “But I think all those omegas can wait until Stephy has breakfast.” He unbuttoned his shirt to let the baby nurse.

Once the baby was done nursing, Tony attempted to pass her off to Steve.

Stephy wailed and reached out for Tony.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Mommy has to go to work. But Daddy’s going to do a great job looking after you. Of course, he’s not going to be able to nurse you. One of the only downsides of those awesome pecs. But you two are going to have fun together.” He pressed a kiss to Stephy’s forehead. “Be good for Daddy, sweetheart.”

Stephy kept crying no matter how much Steve bounced her on his hip and rocked her in his arms. In desperation, he selected a book from the baby bookshelf.

“Let’s read ‘Pat the Bunny’, okay?”

He settled down with her on a couch in the den and attempted to read the book to her. She was more interested in jamming the book into her mouth, but at least that stopped the crying. And after chewing on the book a little, she was calm enough to let Steve actually read it to her and rub her hands over the various textures.

Thor wandered into the den after story time finished, “Hello there, little one,” he said, chucking the baby under the chin. “I was sure the AI said you made plans to visit the beach today. Have you returned already?”

Steve shook his head. “We didn’t go. Tony got called into work.”

“You could not have taken the child without him?”

“Tony wants to be there her first time at the ocean,” Steve said firmly.

“Understandable. But since she is here, I would like to borrow her for a bit.”   
“She’s been a little fussy,” Steve warned.

“Perhaps she needs a nap,” Thor said. “I shall sing her a lullaby my mother sang to me as a child.”

Steve thought Thor would bring the baby back in an hour or two, maybe put her down for a nap and then play with her a little once she was awake and happy again. But it turned out that once the other Avengers realized Tony was gone for the day, they wanted to spend time alone with the baby, too. Steve couldn’t exactly fault them. Tony just loved taking care of the baby and he was the one who spent the majority of the time with her. But they were all pack now and they all loved the baby. Steve decided he could be nice enough to let the rest of the team have her for a day and resigned himself to an afternoon reading parenting books while he waited for Tony to come home.

Tony stumbled in the door a little before four and immediately flopped down on the couch.

“How’d it go?” Steve asked cautiously. When Tony looked this worn-out, it sometimes meant he had poured all his energy into a new creation, but it could also mean he spent a long day dealing with difficult people and nothing exhausted Tony more than having to play nice with idiots and assholes.

Tony shrugged. “I brought in my prototype and talked things through with the boys in the lab. Have to go back in tomorrow and see if we can get an alpha to test it out. And Pepper’s been consulting with a couple makeup companies to match the thing to people’s skin tones. But if all goes well, we’ll actually be able to take orders by the end of the week.”

“That’s great,” Steve said. He ran an appraising eye over Tony’s sagging shoulders. “It’s been a long day for you. Want me to give you a massage?”

Tony waggled an eyebrow. “Is that what the kids call it these days?”

Steve swatted him. “I'm talking about a full-body massage, not a dick massage.”

Tony snickered. “You said it, not me.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I'm just trying to help you relax. You’ve been working hard the past few days and I'm sure you’ve got all kinds of knots from all the stress.” He squeezed Tony's shoulders, gently pressing in with his thumbs.

Tony groaned and his eyelids fluttered. “Okay, a massage might actually be nice.”

“Good. I'll get everything ready.”

It took just a few minutes to grab a towel and the lavender-scented massage oil from the common bathroom and lay everything out over the bed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a massage before,” Tony said. He sprawled out across the towel and put his arms behind his head. “But I have a good idea how these things work from the movies.”

“Uh-huh,” Steve said. “Then you know you need to get naked for me.”

“Ooh, Captain,” Tony said waggling his eyebrows suggestively. But he wiggled out of his clothes pretty quickly, with less showing off than Steve expected.

“On your stomach,” Steve said, nudging Tony’s side.

Tony rolled over obediently and pillowed his head on his arms. “You just want an excuse to look at my ass,” he murmured.

“It’s a nice ass,” Steve said. He pinched Tony’s butt, drawing a surprised squeal from the omega. “But there’s no ulterior motives. I just want to help you relax.” He uncapped the massage oil and let the aroma fill the room.

“Mmm. Carry on then.”

Steve rubbed a generous amount of the oil over Tony’s back and pressed down with the heel of his palm.

Tony groaned. “Oh god, that feels amazing.”

“Thought so,” Steve said. “You’ve been so stressed out and all the stress put knots in your muscles. It’s going to take a little time to work them all out, but I promise it’ll feel much better afterwards.”

“Already does.” Tony groaned again and arched upwards into Steve’s touch. “Oh, babe, your hands are magic.”

Steve dug his thumbs in right above Tony’s shoulder blades and rubbed in a circular motion. Tony carried most of his tension in his shoulders if the almost pornographic sounds he was making were any indication. Steve sternly reminded his body that these were not sexual sounds, but he couldn’t help the little bursts of warmth every time Tony made a particularly satisfied sound. He liked pleasing Tony, liked making his boyfriend happy.

He rubbed all down Tony’s back, skirted lightly over his ass, and then moved down to ease the tension out of Tony’s thighs and calves.

“Very thorough,” Tony murmured.

“I try. Now turn over so I can rub down your chest.”

Tony obediently rolled over. He had his eyes closed and he looked almost relaxed enough to fall asleep. Steve felt another thrill of pride at that. Tony’d had a long day and a nap would be good for him. Even better once Steve had worked out all the kinks in his body so he’d be able to fall asleep comfortably.

Thankfully, Tony’s chest didn’t seem as sore as his back. As he had thought, once he really started nursing the baby, his chest had stopped hurting. But Tony was still making contented little noises as Steve kneaded his hands over his abs, so he kept working his way downward to-

Well, now. It looked like he wasn’t the only one who found the situation arousing.

Steve contemplated his options. On the one hand, this was a purely physical response and didn’t mean Tony actually wanted sex. And after he had repeatedly assured Tony that this wasn’t sexual, the omega might react badly if he initiated sex. On the other hand, Tony’s erection looked almost painful and he’d feel bad if he didn’t even try to ease his pain. He supposed he’d just casually skim over it and see where to go from there based on Tony’s reaction.

He traced one finger up Tony’s shaft and then flicked his eyes to his face for a reaction.

Tony opened one eye and smirked at him. “Wouldn't you consider this stimulating, not relaxing?”

“I promised you a full-body massage,” Steve said. “I don't want you complaining later that I missed a spot.”

Tony laughed, light and easy. “I would do that, wouldn't I?”

“Yep,” Steve said cheerfully. “But now that's taken care of, I can go back to work.” He stroked a hand over Tony's inner thighs and then kneaded the flesh.

“Fucking cocktease,” Tony grumbled.

Steve smiled. “One of my many flaws.”

“You could just put it in me right now,” Tony said breathlessly. “Push me down and screw me into the mattress.”

“Not going to happen,” Steve said firmly.

“Why not? Don’t you want to fuck me?”

“I do,” Steve assured him. “But I’m not doing anything until I prep you.”

Tony groaned and dropped his head back against the mattress. “Okay, look, I know it’s been awhile since you dated an omega. Last year you were with that beta chick, Susan, or whatever her name was.”

“Sharon,” Steve said, mouth twitching with amusement.

“Right,” Tony said. “And betas need prep and lots of lube if you’re going to do anal. But I’m an omega.” He pressed Steve’s fingers against his entrance. “I come with my own lube.”

Jesus, Tony was dripping slick. The massage oil must have really been masking the scent of his arousal.

Steve took a deep breath to get himself under control. “Still got to prep you,” he said finally.

Tony groaned. “Come on, would you just-”

Steve slid a finger inside and crooked it.

Tony gasped and arched his back. “Holy shit, Steve.”

From Tony’s reaction, it was clear he’d never been fingered before. And that was a shame. Omegas were known for having sensitive prostates. A lot of them could come just from a little prostate stimulation. And Tony was probably one of them.

Steve added a second finger and started stroking Tony’s prostate more determinedly.

Tony let out a noise halfway between a whimper and a squeal. “Steve,” he said breathlessly, his hands clenching and unclenching around the towel. “God, Steve.”

Steve pushed in a third finger, twisting and pressing as deep as he could get.

Tony mewled and bucked his hips, eyelids fluttering. Steve just stared at him in amazement. He’d never seen Tony so worked up, so completely lost in the pleasure. But this was Tony putting his complete trust in him. Letting him into the most intimate parts of his body, letting him see him at his most open and vulnerable.

It was a heady feeling.

“Ssss,” Tony said, as if he was trying to say Steve’s name but couldn't quite catch his breath. His chest heaved with exertion. “Ssss.”

“My god,” Steve said reverently. “Just look at you. You're so gorgeous like this.”

And Tony felt so good around his fingers. The spasming muscles, the slick heat. He could only imagine how good it would feel to have his dick inside him. Oh god could he imagine it.

Tony gazed at Steve adoringly, his eyes glassy and half-lidded.

“I love you,” Steve said. “You beautiful, brilliant man.” He twisted his wrist and increased his pace.

Tony cried out and arched off the bed, his eyes going wide. 

As Tony’s muscles clenched around his fingers, Steve’s vision whited out for a moment. When his eyes cleared, Tony was laying back against the bed, looking sleepy and satisfied.

Steve gently slid his fingers free and wiped them on the towel, then pulled the other edge up to clean Tony off.

“S'good,” Tony slurred.

“Nice and relaxed?”

“So relaxed.” Tony's eyelids drooped. “Comfy.”

Steve smiled. “Glad to hear it. Once I finish cleaning you up, I'll tuck you in so you can sleep it off. I’ll wake you for dinner.”

“No, wait.” Tony sat up a little. “I have to do something for you first.”

“You don't need to do anything for me,” Steve assured him. He guided Tony's hand down to his crotch so he could feel the damp spot on the front of his jeans.

Tony stared at him. “But I didn't even touch you. You didn't even touch you.”

“Like I said before, there are alphas out there who love nothing better than seeing their omegas enjoy themselves.”

“Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of alphas who are wonderfully considerate and want to make sure their partners are enjoying themselves just as much as they are. But then there's you, getting off on the fact that I'm getting off. Nobody else does that.”

Steve shrugged. “Okay then, I'm a little weird.”

“A lot weird. I know I'm hot and all, but there's no way watching me get off should turn you on that much.”

Steve cupped Tony's face in his hands. “I love you,” he said. “And nothing could turn me on more than seeing you in ecstasy, especially knowing that I could give you so much pleasure.”

Tony shook his head. “Still weird, but I guess it’s a good kind of weird.”


	28. Chapter 28

When they went to bed that night, Tony was in a much better mood. He was still pretty tired out so Steve had no trouble convincing him to go to bed early, but he was relaxed and happy as he curled up at Steve’s side. 

So when Steve woke up the next morning, he expected Tony to be ready to enjoy a relaxing day off. Instead, he found Tony with the baby in his arms, glaring out the window at the gray skies.

“Why couldn’t Pepper have picked today to drag me into the office?” Tony grumbled. “Stephy’s never going to get a chance to see the ocean at this rate.”

Steve squeezed his shoulder. “It won’t rain forever. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Tony huffed. “That’s what you said yesterday.”

“And it’s what I’ll say tomorrow if it comes to it,” Steve said placidly. “I know you’re excited, babe, but you have to be patient. Sometimes other things just get in the way of what we want to do. Don’t you know how many times villains have showed up when I’d rather be working out or sleeping?”

“But this is different. I promised to take Stephy to the beach for two days in a row now. I’m letting her down.”

“You’re not letting her down. She has no idea we’ve even made plans. So how can she be disappointed?”

“She’ll notice she’s not getting out to see the park.”

Steve shrugged. “We can still take her out, if that’s what you want. Maybe not on a walk, but we could drive around the park in one of the cars. She might actually like watching the rain hit the windows.”

He had always liked watching the rain trickle down the window panes when he was young, even though the cold weather usually brought on illness. And now that he would never get sick again, he enjoyed walking outside and feeling the water on his skin.

Tony chewed the side of his mouth, looking contemplative. “Well,” he said, at last. “That might not be such a terrible-”

Thunder boomed overhead and the baby started wailing.

“Well, that’s just great,” Tony muttered. He bounced the baby on his hip. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll keep you far away from the windows so you won’t have to hear the scary noises.”

That was one of the benefits of living in Tony’s tower. The building was so huge that there were plenty of rooms in the middle of the tower that didn’t have windows. The den, the kitchen, Tony’s lab, Bruce’s lab, the gym. All places where Tony could hide out for the day with the baby and keep her occupied.

“I think I have a book about weather,” Tony said, hoisting the baby higher into his arms. “Let’s go have a look at that and then maybe the thunder won’t seem so scary.”

Steve smiled. “I’ll bring you two some breakfast in a bit.”

Tony flashed him a smile over his shoulder. “Thanks, babe. We’ll be in the den.”

Steve was nowhere near as good a cook as Tony was, but he whipped up a batch of pancakes and brought them into the den. Tony even let him feed him a few bites while he was reading. And when the pancakes were gone, Steve curled up at Tony’s side and stroked his hair. This was the kind of morning Steve could get used to.

It was too bad the baby wasn’t in the mood for cuddling.

Tony sighed as he adjusted the fussing baby in his arms. “Bored already, are you? Okay, fine. I have some work I need to do, so you can play with the bots for a little while.”

“Anything you need help with?”

“Nah. Mostly paperwork I have to sign and proposals I need to look over. Stephy will be there to rescue me from the tedium when I need her.”

Steve smiled. “Well, good luck. I’ll check up on you in a bit.”

As much as he would have loved to spend the whole day with his boyfriend, he knew Tony wouldn’t get any work done if he hung around the lab. It was doubtful he was going to do much with Stephy there to distract him either, but he couldn’t begrudge him a little company.

Steve headed down to the lab a little after noon to see if Tony was ready for lunch. He didn’t see his genius, but he immediately noticed all the bots clustered around the baby’s crib, taking turns shushing each other.

He peered inside and found her fast asleep. Steve suppressed a laugh at the “Wake at your own risk” onesie and gently brushed a little wisp of hair back from her forehead. She was such a beautiful baby.

He straightened up with a frown. Where was Tony?

“Sir can be found in your bedroom, Captain.”

Well, that was unexpected. If Tony wanted to take a nap, he’d usually curl up on the lab couch. 

Jarvis didn’t offer any more information about why Tony was up in the bedroom or what he was doing in there, but Steve figured everything was fine. Jarvis would have told him if anything was wrong. Still, Jarvis had told him where Tony was before he had asked, so the A.I. obviously meant for him to go to him.

When Steve pushed open the bedroom door, Tony was lying on his stomach, wearing only a tiny red Speedo. It took Steve a moment to notice anything else, but eventually he realized there was a towel spread under him, bottles of lotion on the nightstand, and faint piano music playing in the background.

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s all this?”

“I was hoping we’d actually go to the beach,” Tony admitted. “Then I could innocently ask you to rub some aloe on my burnt spots. And because I’d just be wearing this tiny thing, some of the burnt spots would be my ass.”

Steve smirked. “You liked that massage, did you?”

“Of course I did. The happy ending was a definite plus.”

Steve snorted and ran a hand down Tony’s back. “You didn’t need to set this all up. You could have just asked.”

Tony pillowed his head on his arms and grinned up at him. “And where’s the fun in that?”

Steve smiled and slid Tony’s tiny red thong down his hips, squeezing a handful of his ass. Tony whined and arched back into his touch.

Tony was a little more vocal than he had been the first time. Steve suspected he was exaggerating his reactions because he knew how much his pleasure turned him on. Tony didn’t need to do anything but sit back and enjoy Steve’s attention, but it was sweet that he wanted to please him. Steve rewarded his thoughtfulness by twisting his fingers deep inside him, angling for his prostate. And then all of Tony’s speech sputtered out.

This was how Steve really loved to see him. When all Tony could do was feel, when he was raw and vulnerable, all his reactions completely genuine, completely unfiltered. Heat settled low in Steve’s belly, but he ignored it. He focused on the shifts in Tony’s body, the way his breath caught, the mewls, the little shudders, the way he rocked his hips forward. God, he was gorgeous. Steve leaned in closer, whispering to Tony how beautiful he was, but he doubted Tony could really hear him at the moment. The omega was just so lost in the haze of pleasure.

Tony cried out as he came, choking out Steve’s name. And oh, that was one of the best things Steve had ever heard. 

It took a few moments for Tony to regulate his breathing, but once he was no longer panting, he turned to Steve and asked, “You get off, too?”

Steve smiled fondly. Such a selfless man Tony was. “I did,” he said. “Hearing you call out my name.”

Tony’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Good. I can’t be the only one enjoying myself.”

Steve stroked his hair. “I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t. Just seeing you so relaxed is reward enough for me.”

Tony snorted and arched into Steve’s hand, his eyelids starting to droop.

“Looks like you could use a nap,” Steve observed.

“Yeah, okay,” Tony said with a yawn. “This is a normal thing. Lots of parents nap while the baby’s sleeping, right?”

“That’s right,” Steve said with an encouraging smile. “You just settle in and-”

“Sir, the baby is crying.”

“Well, shit,” Tony said with a sigh.

“No, no.” Steve pressed Tony back against the bed. “I’ll take care of her.”

Tony rolled over and pillowed his hands under his head. “Try the pear and pomegranate. She’s due for something different.”

Pomegranate wasn’t an ingredient Steve ever expected to see in baby food. He really had to hand it to Tony. By making some of his own baby food, he was coming up with so many more combinations to expose her to.

Steve settled Stephy in her high chair and pulled out the container of puree. She regarded him dubiously as he held a spoonful out to her.

“Come on,” Steve coaxed. “It’s delicious. Look, I’ll show you.” He put a little on the tip of his tongue. “Mmm.” 

It actually wasn’t half bad. He wasn’t a fan of the mushy texture, but the flavor was great. Maybe he’d have to make himself a fruit salad later.

Stephy whined and waved her arms around.

“Okay, okay. Your turn.”

He held out the spoon to her again and she curled her hand around it, squelching the puree between her fingers. “Aaaaa,” she said.

“Yes, it’s all gross and gooey, isn’t it? Here, let me clean you off.” He dampened a towel in the sink and reached for her hand.

She yanked her arm away from him and reached out for the container of puree.

“No,” Steve groaned as she sank her hand into the mush with a squeal of delight. “Oh god, what a mess.”

Stephy giggled and shoved her palm into her face, smearing pink goo all over her mouth.

Steve sighed. “Honey, we’re not barbarians. We eat with spoons. Come on, you don’t do this when Mommy feeds you.”

There was a quiet laugh behind him and he turned around to find Tony standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing up? I thought you were taking a nap.”

Tony smiled. “You were gone awhile. I figured I needed to come rescue you.” He took the damp cloth and cleaned Stephy’s fingers. “Let’s try this again.”

With Tony’s help, the rest of the feeding went a lot smoother. Of course, Steve still had to wipe her chin a few times, but Tony shrugged it off. 

“Babies are messy eaters,” he said. “You just have to give her only a little bit at a time to try to minimize the mess as much as you can, but it’ll take awhile before she makes it out of a meal unscathed.”

Steve sighed. “Well, I just maximized the mess. She looks like she needs a bath now.” He was pretty sure there was goop in Stephy’s ear.

Tony’s face brightened. “A bath sounds great. You going to join us, Steve?”

Steve felt a little more confident about bathing with the baby now, so he willingly followed Tony up to their bathroom and sat in the tub with her while Tony undressed. She was in a good mood, eagerly splashing her hands in the water and grabbing at every bath toy she saw. Tony just smiled indulgently and wiped her down with a washcloth while she was distracted.

After she was all clean and dressed in a new pink onesie, Tony took her down to the den and let her crawl around on the floor for an hour before he put her down for her afternoon nap. And after her nap, Tony got out a children’s book with a picture of a hippo in a raincoat jumping in a puddle. Stephy promptly tried to chew on the corners of the book and drooled all over it. But Tony patiently read the entire thing to her anyway.

It was Natasha’s turn to cook dinner, so they actually had an enjoyable meal of chicken and pesto pasta. Not as good as Tony’s cooking, but still delicious. After dinner, the baby was put to bed and the team all gathered around to watch a movie. Jarvis was told to pick a random movie from Tony’s collection and he howled with laughter as Magic Mike started up. Clint and Tony giggled and poked at each other through the whole movie. Steve rolled his eyes at their antics, but it was good to see Tony having fun.

It wasn’t the same as a day at the beach, but it seemed to be just what Tony needed.

Tony remained in a good mood until they went up to the bedroom and lightning flashed through the window.

“It’s still raining,” he said gloomily.

“It’ll probably clear up by morning,” Steve said patiently. “And if not, there’s always the next day.”

Unfortunately, it was still raining the next day. And the day after that. 

By the fourth straight day of rain, Tony was starting to get antsy. He started and scrapped three separate projects in his lab and left all the parts scattered everywhere after he took them apart. And then he started obsessively making sandwiches. By the time Steve managed to coax him out of the kitchen, there was a stack of sixteen sandwiches all carefully wrapped and labeled in the fridge.

Steve understood a little. Tony hated feeling helpless, but weather was one of the few things he’d never have any control over. So he did his best to keep Tony distracted and focused on fun things until the weird, freak summer storm blew over.

Tony stormed into the kitchen as Steve was setting up a card game with Thor and Natasha and slammed his hands down on the counter. “I swear to god, Thor, if you’re causing this fucking storm, I’m disowning you.”

“I would never interfere with the weather on your planet,” Thor said in a hurt tone.

“That’s bullshit,” Tony snarled. “You cause storms whenever you get upset. So I don’t know what’s bothering you, but you need to get the hell over it.”

“Tony,” Steve said in horror. He pulled the omega away from the counter. “I’m so sorry, Thor. He doesn’t mean it. He’s just a little-”

“I do mean it,” Tony snapped, yanking his arm out of Steve’s grip. “Cheer up, buttercup.”

Steve dragged Tony out of the kitchen. “We don’t attack our teammates,” he said sternly. “A little rain won’t kill you. So you’re the one who needs to cheer up. I’m tired of this attitude.”

“I’m tired of your face,” Tony shot back. He twisted out of Steve’s arms and stalked off towards the elevator.

Tony stayed down in the lab the rest of the day. He didn’t come up for dinner and he didn’t come up to bed. Steve fought the urge to go down to him and apologize. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Tony was the one being irrational and lashing out at Thor for the weather.

The next morning, Steve got up early and made a cup of Tony’s favorite tea and toast. He wasn’t apologizing. He was just going to show Tony that life wasn’t all bad just because he couldn’t go to the beach.

He punched in the code for the lab elevator, but it didn’t immediately move.

“Sir can be found in the laundry room,” Jarvis said.

Steve couldn’t remember the last time Tony had willingly done laundry. “Okay, Jarvis. Take me down there.” Whatever was going on down there was bound to be interesting.

Interesting was an understatement. The elevator doors opened to Clint sitting in a pile of laundry and a pair of feet sticking up out of the washing machine.

Steve surveyed the giant puddles of soapy water, nuts and bolts all over the floor. “Okay, what’s going on here?”

“Tony’s upgrading our machinery,” Clint said with a heavy sigh. “Told him he doesn’t need to, but he insisted. I’m just waiting for him to finish so I can do my laundry, man.”

Steve frowned. “How long has he been at it?”

“I can fucking hear you talking about me,” Tony shouted, his voice muffled by the machine. 

Clint shrugged. “I was going to throw in a load before bed last night, but Tony’d already started taking things apart.” He picked up a coffee mug from somewhere in the laundry pile and took a sip. “All I can do now is wait for the tornado to die out.”

“Oh, Tony,” Steve said with a shake of his head. 

He hated when Tony started angry engineering. Tony was more likely to injure himself being careless with his tools. Maybe hitting a nail with a little too much force, soldering his own finger because he was too busy thinking about whatever upset him to pay attention.

“Come on,” Steve said. “Let’s get him out of there.” He gestured for Clint to take one of Tony’s legs.

Tony kicked vaguely in their direction. “Back off, Birdbrain. And you too, Steve.”

“I just want to help you get out of there.”

“I don't need your help,” Tony snapped. “I am in the middle of recalibrating this damn thing and if you interrupt my work again, I'm going to jam a socket wrench up your ass.”

Clint patted Steve's shoulder and headed for the kitchen. “All yours, Cap.”

Steve sighed. “I think it's time for you to take a break, Tony.”

“Well, you think wrong.” There was more clanging from inside the washing machine and a steady stream of cursing.

Steve had had enough. He grabbed hold of Tony's ankles, and over his loud protests, hauled him out of the machine.

Tony’s eyes were blazing. “Fuck you. I am doing important work here. You want to explain to the rest of the team why the washer won’t work?”

“The team will be fine for one day. It’s more important that you get your rest. I know you didn’t sleep last night and-”

“I’m fine, Steve. I’m not going to keel over after one all-nighter. I do these all the time.”

“Not when you’re upset. Come on, baby, let’s talk this over.” Steve tried to envelop Tony in a hug, but the genius just squirmed away from him.

“Nothing to talk about,” Tony said stiffly.

“Yes, there is,” Steve said determinedly. He pulled Tony back against his chest. “I love you and I want you to be happy.”

“Goddamnit, Steve, let me go! I have work to do.”

Steve struggled to keep hold of Tony as the genius flailed around. If he let go, Tony would only run away and bury himself in another project, working himself up to another level of rage. And he couldn’t let that happen. He wished he had never brought up the beach in the first place. It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation day for Tony and it had just made all of his stress and frustration so much worse.

“Calm down,” Steve said through gritted teeth, moving his hands to grasp Tony’s shoulders.

All of a sudden, Tony went completely limp, sagging forward in his arms.

Steve stared at where his thumbs were against Tony’s neck and felt cold dread run through his veins. “Oh, Tony, I am so sorry,” he said frantically. “I touched your gland and I didn’t-”

“Yeah, you did.” Tony lifted his head and smiled dazedly up at him. “It felt good.”

Steve sucked in a breath. “Really?” He hesitantly rubbed his thumb over the gland, watching for any sign of fear in Tony’s eyes. But the omega just continued to gaze at him adoringly.

“Oh wow,” Steve breathed out. “Tony, you’re cured.” 

They had gotten to the point where Tony had started relaxing into an omega headspace after an initial tension when Steve announced he was going to touch him. But this time he hadn’t even warned him and Tony had just relaxed, even though he was mad at him.

Tony’s gentle smile widened just a little. “You cured me, darling.”

“You cured yourself.” Steve pulled Tony into a tight hug. “Baby, I’m so proud of you. You’ve been so strong fighting all this. But now it’s time you take a break and recover for awhile.”

“Okay,” Tony said agreeably.

Steve blinked. “Okay?” Tony wasn’t even arguing with him. This would take a little time getting used to.

Tony leaned his head against Steve’s chest. “Now that you mention it, I am a little tired,” he admitted. “I didn’t sleep last night.”

Steve gathered Tony into his arms. “Then you should get some rest.”

Tony’s expression was still soft and open as Steve tucked him into their bed. He couldn’t resist running a finger over the gland one more time and murmuring, “Get some rest, gorgeous,” as Tony’s eyes started to droop. Tony was going to kill him later for taking liberties with him, but Steve wanted to make the most of this precious moment.

Steve lingered for a few minutes after Tony fell asleep, watching the way his chest rose and fell, the little twitches in his face. Tony looked so young and carefree when he slept. But he’d probably go right back to being pissed about the weather when he woke up, with an added layer of being pissed about Steve taking advantage of his gland to get him to rest. And he’d rather not be murdered right away. So he slipped back down to the den and started reading one of the James Bond novels Tony had shoved into the bookcase.

He was startled out of his reading as Tony abruptly dropped into his lap.

“I love you,” Tony declared fiercely. “God do I love you.” And then he started frantically kissing every inch of Steve’s face he could get his mouth on.

Steve chuckled. “Good to see you’re not mad at me.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would I be mad?” Tony cupped his hands around Steve’s face. “I’m like a normal omega again. I never thought I’d be able to say that. God, I feel like it’s my birthday again and you’ve given me the best present in my life.”

Steve twisted his head to kiss Tony’s fingertips. “I wish your birthday had been better.”

Tony shrugged indifferently. “Well, we can’t always have what we want.” His eyes brightened. “But your birthday is coming up next week. I’m going to make sure it’s the most amazing birthday in your life.”

Steve groaned. “Don’t go overboard, Tony. I don’t need a big party.” He stroked Tony’s hip. “And I don’t need a lot of presents. I’ve already got everything I’ve wanted.”

Tony pursed his lips. “Awesome as I am, I’m not a present.”

Steve smiled. “Even a single night with you is like a gift. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

Tony stroked his chin. “A night of sexual pleasure isn’t a bad present. I’ll have to think about that one. But that can come after the party planning. I’m cooking for the day. Whatever you want, I’ll make it.”

“Now that sounds like a gift to me,” Steve said approvingly. Tony’s cooking was divine.

“Eh, it’s a gift to everyone else, too, so I still have to think of something just for you.” Tony curled into Steve’s chest. “I know you hate getting presents, but you deserve something amazing after everything you’ve done for me.”

“Just knowing that you’re happy and healthy is all the thanks I need.”

“Selfless bastard,” Tony said with a quirk of his lips. “You’re getting a birthday present anyway.”

Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s temple. “Alright,” he said. “If it makes you happy.”


	29. Chapter 29

The storm cleared up the next morning. Steve was made aware of that fact at 3 a.m. when Tony climbed on top of him and shook him awake excitedly to point out that they weren’t hearing thunder anymore.

“I got the cooler all packed,” Tony said eagerly. “And a bag of beach essentials. So we’re totally ready to go.”

“Sounds great,” Steve said. He rolled over, pinning Tony to the bed. “So that means we can sleep in for another four hours since its already packed.”

“What, no,” Tony spluttered. “Steve. Steve, no. I’m ready right now.”

“Nope,” Steve said. “Try again in the morning.”

“It’s already morning,” Tony protested. “And we want to get an early start for the beach.”

“We will,” Steve said. “Jarvis, set an alarm for 7.”

“Of course, Captain.”

“You suck,” Tony muttered.

Steve pulled Tony into his side and kissed his forehead. “I get that you’re excited. But it’s 3 a.m. We’re not taking the baby to the beach at 3 a.m. It’s going to be too cold out. You don’t expect me to go out in the freezing cold, do you?” He wrapped himself tighter around Tony.

“Oh, alright,” Tony said with a put-upon sigh. But he couldn’t quite hide the way his mouth turned up at the corners.

Steve wasn’t exactly surprised when Tony woke him back up at 7 by plopping the baby down on his chest. “Good morning, princess,” he said with a yawn. 

“While you were lazing about in bed, the two of us got dressed and had breakfast,” Tony said. “So let’s get a move on, soldier.”

Steve chuckled and lifted the baby up for a kiss. “Look at you, angel. Mommy got you all decked out, didn’t he?” The white and blue ruffled swimsuit looked adorable on her.

“Yep,” Tony said. “Now say good-bye to Daddy. He’s got to get dressed so he can come with us.” He lifted the baby up and lowered her just close enough so Steve could press another kiss to her cheek.

“Bah,” Stephy said, reaching a tiny hand towards Steve’s face.

Steve assumed she was going to pat his mouth since that seemed to be her favorite thing to do after anybody gave her kisses. But then the baby unexpectedly jammed two fingers up his nose.

“Stephy, no,” Tony said with a laugh. He pulled her back. “We don’t stick our hands in there. That’s gross.”

Steve wrinkled his nose. “God, that was weird. I think-” He sneezed.

Tony burst into giggles. “You must be really special, Steve. She hasn’t done that to me yet.”

“I don’t feel special,” Steve said. “I feel like I’ve been assaulted.”

Tony transferred the baby to his hip. “Why don’t we stop bothering Daddy now? I think he’s been punished enough for sleeping late. You can help me pick out a snack for the car.” He looked back over his shoulder as he left the room. “If you’re downstairs in five, I’ll make you an omelette. Bacon, avocado, tomatoes, cheese. The works.”

“I’ll be there,” Steve promised. After all his time in the military, he had gotten used to dressing in under a minute.

When he got down to the kitchen, Tony was putting a pan on the stove and the baby was sitting on the floor turning an orange over in her hands.

“Looking good,” Steve said, bending down to kiss the nape of Tony’s neck. “The food looks pretty nice, too.”

Tony grinned. “Don’t give me that. I just started making it.”

“And I see you grabbed all my favorite ingredients. Need me to help prep anything?”

“Nah. You can start loading the car. Make up for missing your morning workout.”

Steve rolled his eyes fondly and grabbed the cooler out of the fridge and two of the three bags Tony had left sitting by the kitchen door. The diaper bag he’d leave for right before they left, just in case.

When he returned to the kitchen, there was an omelette sitting on a plate next to Steve’s usual place at the table. And Tony was sitting on the floor with the baby in his lap, attempting to put some sunscreen on her.

Stephy wrinkled her nose as Tony started slathering her face and tried to squirm out of his arms.

“Oh, I know,” Tony cooed. “I know it’s cold and gooey, but you don’t want to get sunburned. Just humor me for a little bit longer and then I’ll let you down to play.”

“And then Daddy’s going to put sunscreen on Mommy,” Steve said, giving Tony a meaningful look.

“Seriously?” Tony said, shifting the whining baby to a better position. “I can do that myself.”

“I’m sure you can, but since you’ve already told me your plan was to get sunburned, I’m going to make sure.” He lowered his voice. “I wouldn’t want to hurt your sunburn giving you a prostate massage later.”

“You’re evil,” Tony said. “Pure evil.”

“I sure am,” Steve said cheerfully. “Just wait until I make sure you eat something so you’ll have energy for rigorous activities.”

Tony snorted and bounced the baby on his lap. “Daddy’s being silly. I bet he’s ready to go to the beach and work off the craziness.” He gave Steve a meaningful look.

Steve quickly shoved the last bite of omelette into his mouth and reached for the sunscreen. 

Once Steve was satisfied that Tony was sufficiently coated in sunscreen and he had put on his own sunscreen with a little help from Tony, they were ready to go.

Tony slung the diaper bag over his shoulder. “Alright, J, we’re going off the grid for awhile. No calls unless it’s an emergency. And Pepper wanting more work out of me is not an emergency.”

“Noted, sir.”

Steve followed Tony out to the garage and held the baby while Tony got the carseat set up. “You want me to drive?” he asked. He knew Tony would probably enjoy sitting next to the baby on the trip, reading her one of his many books about ocean animals.

“Nah,” Tony said. “Sit right here. I’ll go around.”

Steve shrugged, but got into the back seat next to the baby.

Tony went around the back of the car and slid in on the other side of the baby. “Jarvis, take the wheel.”

Steve rolled his eyes fondly as Jarvis started up the car. “So, have anything to read to the baby while Jarvis drives us there?”

“Yes, I do.” Tony rummaged around in the baby’s bag. “It’s called ‘Baby Bear Goes to the Beach.’ Here.” He thrust the book into Steve’s hands.

“You want me to do it? Uh, okay. Here, Stephy. Let’s take a look at this. ‘Baby Bear Goes to the Beach’ by Lorette Broekstra.” He opened the book to the first page.

Stephy reached a hand out to pat the page.

“Yes, all the pretty colors.” Steve cleared his throat. “I’m going to read it to you, okay?” He glanced up at Tony to see if he was laughing at his awkwardness, but he found the omega smiling down at the baby as if he couldn’t be more proud. 

It was just a book. He could do this.

Steve took his time, letting the baby touch each page and making sure to identify everything she touched. It took a lot longer to read the story that way, but the baby was probably learning more.

Halfway through the book, the baby started nodding off and Steve gratefully shut the book.

“That was great,” Tony said quietly. “Did you see how closely she paid attention to everything you said?”

“Until she got bored and dozed off,” Steve said with a rueful smile.

“Nothing against your reading voice, babe. She always takes a nap in the morning. We don’t want her to miss her nap or she won’t enjoy the beach.”

Steve grinned. “Can’t have that, can we?”

By the time they arrived at the beach and started unpacking the car, the baby was awake again and whining to be held.

Tony strapped the baby to his back and traipsed up and down the beach looking for a good spot to set up, close to the water, but a little ways away from other people.

Once Tony finally picked a place to make camp, Steve lugged all the supplies out of the car and started setting up while Tony kept the baby distracted by pointing at seagulls and pigeons in the area.

At last, everything was set up. Steve sank down onto his towel and grabbed a water bottle out of the cooler. “Come sit down for a bit, babe. Let the baby get down and experience the beach.”

They scooped a shallow hole in the sand a reasonable distance from the water and settled the baby in it. Tony had packed enough sand toys for five kids and he began busily using all of them to construct castles, a miniature city, and several sculpted animals all around the baby.

Stephy watched him work for awhile before she decided she wanted to smash all of his creations. Tony had to stop her from jamming a whole handful of wet sand in her mouth.

“Why don’t you just sit with Mommy and look at the sand from a distance?” Tony said as he lifted the baby onto his lap. 

Stephy whined and tried to squirm out of Tony’s arms.

“Maybe she shouldn’t have taken that nap,” Steve said with a laugh. “She’s too energetic now.”

“Well, I know how to fix that.” Tony lifted the baby up like an airplane and started towards the waterline. “And we’re a pelican, coming down to snatch a delicious fish out of the water.” He swooped in, bending just low enough for the baby’s feet to skim the water.

The baby squealed with delight and kicked her feet.

“You like that, do you? I’m going to have to invest in a kiddie pool so we don’t have to drive all the way to the beach to splash in the water. And when you get a little older, Mommy can start teaching you how to swim.” Tony spoke into his watch. “Jarvis, send me a list of local Mommy and Me swim classes to my tablet. I’ll look ‘em up when we get home.”

Steve smiled. “We could take her for a walk if she doesn’t want to sit still. Show her some birds, maybe see if we can see some critters hiding in the rocks.”

“Great idea.” Tony bounced the baby on his hip. “You remember the book Daddy read to you in the car, don’t you? Now it’s time to see everything for yourself.”

Steve looked at their set-up with a sigh. They hadn’t even been there for half an hour and they were already going to have to pack it up again.

“Come on,” Tony said. He tugged at Steve’s arm with his free hand. “If you want to grab a drink, do it quick and let’s get going.”

“But we have to put everything back in the car so it doesn’t get stolen.”

“Pfft,” Tony said with a derisive snort. “Jarvis’ll keep an eye on things while we’re gone. If anybody jacks our stuff, Jarvis will have footage of the crime and lead police right to them.”

Steve shrugged. Although he couldn’t see any particular security equipment, he trusted Tony’s expertise. Besides, with Tony’s fortune, it wasn’t like a missing beach towel would really bother him anyway.

“Beach baby, beach baby there on the sand. From July to the end of September,” Tony sang to the baby. “Surfin’ was fun, we’d be out in the sun everyday.”

Steve trailed along behind, picking up cool shells to show the baby while Tony eagerly showed off all the sights to the baby.

“And this is an American oystercatcher,” Tony said, pointing to a bird scurrying briskly over a rock.

“Really?” Steve said. “You can tell just by looking at it?”

“Of course I can. I read a book about seabirds.” He bounced the baby. “Reading is magical. The only kind of magic Mommy likes.”

Steve snorted and picked up another iridescent shell. “Show this one to Stephy.”

Tony peered at it. “Oh yeah.” He carefully traced the baby’s finger over one of the swirls in the shell. “Isn’t that pretty, darling? We’re so lucky Daddy has an eye for beauty.”

“Yup,” Steve said cheerfully. “That’s why I’m dating your mom.”

Tony ducked his head, but he couldn’t quite hide the pleased grin.

When they finished their walk, Steve was relieved that all their gear was still right where they left it.

Tony sprawled out on one of the towels, adjusting the umbrella so he was in the shade and then pressed Stephy to his chest to nurse.

“It’s been a great trip so far,” Steve said. “Maybe not exactly as we envisioned it, but great all the same.”

“Babies teach you that you can’t plan for everything,” Tony said as he adjusted her to the other side. “Things don’t always turn out the way you plan, but sometimes they’re even better.”

“Want me to take her for a bit while you take a nap? You did wake up a lot earlier than I did.”

“Lunch, then nap,” Tony decided.

Steve pulled cans of iced tea, carefully wrapped sandwiches, oranges, grapes, bananas, and little bags of crackers and cheese out of the cooler. “Wow, you’ve been busy. I didn’t realize you packed so much.”

Tony shrugged as he bit into his sandwich. “I brought a banana just in case Stephy wanted to try a bit. The rest is mostly for you. I know how your metabolism works.”  
After Tony polished off his sandwich and half a bag of grapes, he curled up to take his nap. To Steve’s great delight, the baby was willing to go down for a nap, too. Steve would never get over how cute the two of them looked napping together.

Tony woke up when the baby started fussing. He carried her into the park’s restroom to change her and then took her out for one last walk down the shoreline before they headed home.

It had been just the day Tony needed. Tony had been so stressed out and worn out lately, but the light had finally come back into his eyes.

Once home, went straight up to the baby’s room to put her in her playpen while Steve unpacked the cooler.

Natasha was busy chopping an array of vegetables for the night’s dinner, but she set aside her work briefly to look Steve over. “You guys were certainly gone longer than I thought.”

Steve shrugged. “Lots to do at the beach.”

Tony barged into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, only belatedly noticing Natasha’s presence. “Oh, hey,” he said as he grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge. “You wouldn’t believe the shell Steve managed to find. It was exactly the same color as those carrots.” Tony pulled a stool up at the kitchen counter and started chattering on about their beach adventure. 

“Sounds like the baby had a good time,” she said with an indulgent smile as Tony helped clear off the cutting board.

“We all did,” Tony said cheerfully. “And nobody got sunburned, which is a success in itself.”

Thor wandered into the kitchen, clutching one of his huge mugs. “Hello, my friends,” he said, breaking into a wide smile. “I am pleased you have returned safely from the beach.” He laid a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “You are it,” he said solemnly.

“Uh, what?” Steve said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Clint’s been teaching him how to play tag.”

“Oh.” Steve looked at Natasha appraisingly.

“I have a knife, you know.” She sliced into another onion for emphasis.

Steve’s gaze shifted to Tony.

“Oh hell no,” Tony said. “You’re not going to catch me.” He bolted out of the kitchen.

Steve laughed and gave chase.

He was a lot faster than Tony, but he allowed his genius just enough of a lead to get into the den before he tackled him, pinning him to the couch.

“Hey,” Tony protested with a laugh. “It’s called tag, not tackle football. Maybe Thor needs to teach you a thing or two.”

“Oh, does he now?” Steve ran his hands over Tony’s side.

Tony squealed and thrashed around. “No, stop, I’m ticklish.”

“Aha,” Steve said. “You’re at my mercy now.” He tickled Tony’s other side.

“You’re evil!” Tony shouted between giggles. “Pure evil.”

Steve pulled back with a grin. “I learn new things about you every day.”

“So do I,” Tony said with a huff.

“You okay, baby?” Steve asked. Tony sounded slightly out of breath.

“I’m fine. I’ll have to get my revenge later, but I’ll let it go for now.”

Steve chuckled. “Thanks for being such a good sport, babe. I’ve had fun today.”He bent down to kiss him. 

It started out as a chaste peck on the lips, but Tony opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.

“Baby,” Steve groaned. He licked into Tony’s mouth, delighting in Tony’s taste, somewhere between warm butterscotch, bitter coffee, and spicy cinnamon. Once he started kissing the genius, it was hard to stop. Tony’s mouth was just so sinful and the way he enthusiastically responded to the kiss only encouraged Steve deeper.

His hands trailed down to cup Tony’s perfect ass, pulling his body closer. He wanted to feel Tony against him. His body was moving on autopilot now, just pressing itself against Tony. He needed to touch him, to feel him against him.

Tony’s loud moan startled him out of his haze.

He pulled back and took a good look at Tony’s state. The omega was flushed all over, his lips kiss swollen, and his eyes half-lidded. Steve was sure he didn’t look much better.

It was a little embarrassing how easily he had let his hormones take over.

Steve cleared his throat. “Alright. That’s enough of that.”

Tony whined low in his throat. “Don’t stop now.” He laced his hands around Steve’s neck and rolled his hips.

Steve shuddered. “Tony, we can’t.”

“Oh come on,” Tony said heatedly. “I know you have great plans for our first time, but what’s wrong with spontaneity? It’s been so long since I’ve been fucked and I want your dick in me right now.”

“We are not having sex in the middle of the den,” Steve said firmly.

Tony blinked and looked around, as if suddenly realizing where they were. “Oh,” he said. “As far as excuses go, it’s not bad.” He arched against Steve. “Take us somewhere private, big boy.”

Steve swallowed and slipped his hands under Tony’s body, gathering him into his arms.

Tony purred and put his arms around Steve’s neck. “Goddamn. You’re so strong. You carry me like I weigh as much as Stephy.”

Steve headed for the elevator and the doors opened obediently so Steve didn’t even have to set Tony down to push the button. Jarvis was awesome.

“Take us up to my room, J,” Tony said, with a luxurious stretch that showed off a few inches of his abs under his shirt. 

The elevator ride would last mere seconds, but it was going to feel like forever with Tony showing off so blatantly.

“Of course, sir.”

Tony leaned in to lick the shell of Steve’s ear. “I’m so tired of waiting. I don’t think I can make it to my floor.”

“We are not having sex in the elevator, Tony.”

“Sir, the elevator has stopped,” Jarvis prompted them. The door slid open.

Tony peered out of the elevator and frowned. “This isn’t right. Jarvis, why’d you take us to Stephy’s floor?”

“You asked to be taken to your room, sir.”

“Oh yeah,” Tony said. “I’ve been sleeping on Steve’s floor for the past month or whatever.”

Steve pressed a kiss against Tony’s neck. It was unbelievably arousing to hear that Tony thought of their shared bedroom as his now.

“My apologies, sir. Shall I take you to Captain Rogers’ floor now?”

“Fuck that. We’re here already and a bed’s a bed.” Tony kicked Steve’s side. “Come on, supersoldier. Put on some super speed.”

Steve wasn’t sure how he made it to Tony’s bedroom with the genius wiggling in his arms and whispering in his ears all the filthy things he was looking forward to. It was so tempting to just drop Tony right where he was and pound him into the carpet or against a wall, but with a supreme effort of will, Steve made it all the way down the hallway.

Tony groaned as Steve dropped him down on the bed. “Oh, baby. I love when you get so aggressive. Just fuck me now. My body is ready.”

“Trying to,” Steve grunted. It was hard to get out of his clothes when Tony was so intent on pawing at him.

Finally, Steve manage to shuck off his shirt and get his jeans unbuttoned. Tony was showing no initiative in getting his own clothes off, so Steve stripped him, too.

“Oh yes,” Tony said. He stroked his fingertips over Steve’s abs and let his hands fall down to his groin. “Can’t wait to have that bad boy inside me.”

“You already have,” Steve said with an amused twist of his lips.

“While I was in heat,” Tony said dismissively. “And that doesn’t count. Everybody knows that size really doesn’t matter when you’re in heat. But now I’ll really be able to feel it.” 

Steve snorted at the undisguised glee in Tony’s voice. “I’m glad you’re excited. But if you can just lay still for a second, we’ll get on to the sex faster.”

Tony spread his legs and put his hands behind his head. “Okay, your second’s up.”

Steve rolled his eyes and adjusted a pillow under his hips. “I think you’re finally ready.”

“I was born ready,” Tony said with a smug smirk that quickly vanished as Steve pressed the tip of his erection against his rear. “Oh.”

“Just relax,” Steve said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know you won’t. I’m just so excited and the anticipation is killing me.” Tony took a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

Steve gently stroked his hips. “I’ll be careful. I want this to be good for both of us.”

It was clearly taking Tony a lot of effort to stay still and relaxed, but Steve still pressed forward slowly, inch by inch. As he bottomed out, Tony let out a choked sound.

“You doing okay?” Steve asked. “Let me know if it hurts.”

“I'm good,” Tony said. “Great, actually. I just feel so full and it's awesome.” He shifted his hips forward a little. “I love how big you are.”

“Good. But you make sure to let me know if anything hurts and we’ll stop right away.”

“Yes, you worrywart,” Tony said with an eyeroll. “I’m surprised you didn’t want more time to prep me and stretch me out.”

“What do you think I've been doing this past week?”

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it again. He let out a low whistle. “Didn't know you had so much sneakiness in you.”

Steve smirked. “I figured you'd like the approach.”

“I do,” Tony said. “I really do. So much better than making me wait when we're both so goddamn ready.” He shifted his hips. “I’m ready, big guy. Start moving.” 

Steve started slow, gauging Tony’s reaction. Tony moaned enthusiastically and arched up to meet each of Steve’s thrusts. After awhile, Steve stopped worrying about hurting Tony and settled into a steady rhythm. 

“Oh fuck. Oh god, Steve, you feel amazing,” Tony said breathlessly.

“Feeling’s mutual babe,” Steve grunted. Tony’s velvety warmth was better than he could have imagined.

As Steve picked up the pace, Tony’s rambling dissolved into desperate mewls.

He was getting close. Steve could feel it. “Come on, baby,” he coaxed. “You’re right there.” He slid one hand up to grasp Tony’s shaft.

Tony cried out and clenched down as he hit orgasm.

Steve groaned and let Tony’s spasming muscles pull him over the edge.

“Oh god, that was amazing,” Tony said. His eyelids fluttered. “I haven’t had a good fucking in a long time and I forgot how satisfying it feels. No offense to your fingers, but your dick is ten times better.”

Steve chuckled. “I should hope so.” He pulled out gingerly and grimaced at the mess he left all over Tony’s beautiful sheets. “Let me get something to clean up a little.”

“Wait,” Tony said. “Before you get up, I need you to touch my gland.”

“What? Why?”

They had worked so hard on disassociating the omega gland from sex in Tony's mind. Touching him now would probably bring all of the memories back.

“I feel so good and relaxed right now and I want to remember this moment every time you touch me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Tony said. He guided Steve's hand to his neck.

“I trust your judgement.” He carefully ran his thumb over Tony’s gland, exulting as the omega melted into the touch. “I love you,” he whispered. “You’re incredible.”

Tony smiled affectionately. “Love you, too, babe.” He stretched luxuriously. “We’re definitely going back down to your room tonight because I don’t want to do laundry. I like sleeping in your room better anyway. I never thought I would like a small bed like yours, but it feels a lot cozier.”

“I agree,” Steve said. “So, let’s get cleaned up before dinner and then we’ll turn in early. It’s been a long, fun-filled day, but-”

“Seriously?” Tony said. “The day wasn’t that exhausting. I took a nap earlier, you know.”

Steve sighed. “Tony.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “The only reason I’ll go to bed early is if sex is involved.”

“I might be persuaded,” Steve said. “If you don’t care about sticky sheets afterwards.”

“Yes!” Tony said delightedly. “Twice in one day. This is the best day ever.”


End file.
